India vs United States: Annual forest expansion
India
674,000 hectares per year
in 2020
United States
815,360 hectares per year
in 2020
India rank
4th
United States rank
3rd
Annual forest expansion over time
- India
- United States
How they compare
United States currently reports 815,360 hectares per year against 674,000 hectares per year in India, a difference of 141,360 hectares per year.
That makes United States's figure about 1.2 times India's.
The two have swapped places 1 time across 5 shared years of data; in 1990 it was India ahead.
India ranks 4th and United States ranks 3rd of 110 countries.
Across the 4 decades both report, India averaged higher in 3 and United States in 1.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | India | United States | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 749,300 hectares per year | 108,600 hectares per year | 640,700 hectares per year | India |
| 2000s | 820,000 hectares per year | 518,400 hectares per year | 301,600 hectares per year | India |
| 2010s | 946,400 hectares per year | 483,000 hectares per year | 463,400 hectares per year | India |
| 2020s | 674,000 hectares per year | 815,360 hectares per year | 141,360 hectares per year | United States |
Averages of every year both report within each decade.
Frequently asked questions
- Which has higher annual forest expansion, India or United States?
- United States, at 815,360 hectares per year against 674,000 hectares per year in India as of 2020.
- What is the difference in annual forest expansion between India and United States?
- 141,360 hectares per year, with United States ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for India and United States?
- 5 years are reported by both, from 1990 to 2020.
- How do India and United States rank globally for annual forest expansion?
- India ranks 4th 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).