Australia vs United States: Forest area
Australia
133.56 million hectares
in 2025
United States
308.89 million hectares
in 2025
Australia rank
7th
United States rank
4th
Forest area over time
- Australia
- United States
How they compare
United States currently reports 308.89 million hectares against 133.56 million hectares in Australia, a difference of 175.33 million hectares.
That makes United States's figure about 2.3 times Australia's.
Across all 36 years both countries report, United States has been ahead every year.
Australia ranks 7th and United States ranks 4th of 235 countries.
United States has averaged higher in every one of the 4 decades both report.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | Australia | United States | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 133.82 million hectares | 302.94 million hectares | 169.11 million hectares | United States |
| 2000s | 132.13 million hectares | 305.87 million hectares | 173.74 million hectares | United States |
| 2010s | 132.26 million hectares | 309.51 million hectares | 177.25 million hectares | United States |
| 2020s | 133.43 million hectares | 309.07 million hectares | 175.65 million hectares | United States |
Averages of every year both report within each decade.
Frequently asked questions
- Which has higher forest area, Australia or United States?
- United States, at 308.89 million hectares against 133.56 million hectares in Australia as of 2025.
- What is the difference in forest area between Australia and United States?
- 175.33 million hectares, with United States ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for Australia and United States?
- 36 years are reported by both, from 1990 to 2025.
- How do Australia and United States rank globally for forest area?
- Australia ranks 7th and United States ranks 4th 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.