China vs France: Annual change in forest area

China

1.61 million hectares

in 2025

France

89,400 hectares

in 2025

China rank

1st

France rank

4th

Annual change in forest area over time

China currently reports 1.61 million hectares against 89,400 hectares in France, a difference of 1.52 million hectares.

That makes China's figure about 18.0 times France's.

Across all 35 years both countries report, China has been ahead every year.

China ranks 1st and France ranks 4th of 235 countries.

Indicator: Annual change in forest area
Unit: hectares
Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data
Licence: CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage: 235 places, 8,225 data points, 1991–2025
Last refreshed: 07 August 2026

Net change in forest area measures forest expansion (the sum of afforestation and natural expansion) minus deforestation.