Australia vs China: Forest area
Australia
133.56 million hectares
in 2025
China
227.15 million hectares
in 2025
Australia rank
7th
China rank
5th
Forest area over time
- Australia
- China
How they compare
China currently reports 227.15 million hectares against 133.56 million hectares in Australia, a difference of 93.59 million hectares.
That makes China's figure about 1.7 times Australia's.
Across all 36 years both countries report, China has been ahead every year.
Australia ranks 7th and China ranks 5th of 235 countries.
China has averaged higher in every one of the 4 decades both report.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | Australia | China | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 133.82 million hectares | 166.08 million hectares | 32.25 million hectares | China |
| 2000s | 132.13 million hectares | 187.62 million hectares | 55.50 million hectares | China |
| 2010s | 132.26 million hectares | 209.15 million hectares | 76.89 million hectares | China |
| 2020s | 133.43 million hectares | 223.13 million hectares | 89.70 million hectares | China |
Averages of every year both report within each decade.
Frequently asked questions
- Which has higher forest area, Australia or China?
- China, at 227.15 million hectares against 133.56 million hectares in Australia as of 2025.
- What is the difference in forest area between Australia and China?
- 93.59 million hectares, with China ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for Australia and China?
- 36 years are reported by both, from 1990 to 2025.
- How do Australia and China rank globally for forest area?
- Australia ranks 7th and China ranks 5th of 235 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 Forest area. Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.
Individual pages
About this data
Forest area is land under natural or planted stands of trees of at least 5 meters in situ, whether productive or not, and excludes tree stands in agricultural production systems.