China vs United States: Annual forest expansion
China
1.89 million hectares per year
in 2020
United States
815,360 hectares per year
in 2020
China rank
1st
United States rank
3rd
Annual forest expansion over time
- China
- United States
How they compare
China currently reports 1.89 million hectares per year against 815,360 hectares per year in United States, a difference of 1.07 million hectares per year.
That makes China's figure about 2.3 times United States's.
Across all 5 years both countries report, China has been ahead every year.
China ranks 1st and United States ranks 3rd of 110 countries.
China has averaged higher in every one of the 4 decades both report.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | China | United States | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 2.31 million hectares per year | 108,600 hectares per year | 2.20 million hectares per year | China |
| 2000s | 2.67 million hectares per year | 518,400 hectares per year | 2.16 million hectares per year | China |
| 2010s | 2.18 million hectares per year | 483,000 hectares per year | 1.70 million hectares per year | China |
| 2020s | 1.89 million hectares per year | 815,360 hectares per year | 1.07 million hectares per year | China |
Averages of every year both report within each decade.
Frequently asked questions
- Which has higher annual forest expansion, China or United States?
- China, at 1.89 million hectares per year against 815,360 hectares per year in United States as of 2020.
- What is the difference in annual forest expansion between China and United States?
- 1.07 million hectares per year, with China ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for China and United States?
- 5 years are reported by both, from 1990 to 2020.
- How do China and United States rank globally for annual forest expansion?
- China ranks 1st and United States ranks 3rd of 110 countries.
- Where does this data come from?
- Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as Annual forest expansion. Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.
Individual pages
About this data
Forest expansion is the sum of afforestation (the establishment of forest through planting and/or deliberate seeding) and natural forest expansion (expansion of forests through natural succession on land that, until then, was under another land use).