Botswana vs Nigeria: Forest area
Botswana
15.73 million hectares
in 2025
Nigeria
17.13 million hectares
in 2025
Botswana rank
40th
Nigeria rank
39th
Forest area over time
- Botswana
- Nigeria
How they compare
Nigeria currently reports 17.13 million hectares against 15.73 million hectares in Botswana, a difference of 1.40 million hectares.
That makes Nigeria's figure about 1.1 times Botswana's.
Across all 36 years both countries report, Nigeria has been ahead every year.
Botswana ranks 40th and Nigeria ranks 39th of 235 countries.
Nigeria has averaged higher in every one of the 4 decades both report.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | Botswana | Nigeria | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 15.73 million hectares | 21.00 million hectares | 5.27 million hectares | Nigeria |
| 2000s | 15.73 million hectares | 19.73 million hectares | 4.00 million hectares | Nigeria |
| 2010s | 15.73 million hectares | 18.46 million hectares | 2.73 million hectares | Nigeria |
| 2020s | 15.73 million hectares | 17.45 million hectares | 1.72 million hectares | Nigeria |
Averages of every year both report within each decade.
Frequently asked questions
- Which has higher forest area, Botswana or Nigeria?
- Nigeria, at 17.13 million hectares against 15.73 million hectares in Botswana as of 2025.
- What is the difference in forest area between Botswana and Nigeria?
- 1.40 million hectares, with Nigeria ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for Botswana and Nigeria?
- 36 years are reported by both, from 1990 to 2025.
- How do Botswana and Nigeria rank globally for forest area?
- Botswana ranks 40th and Nigeria ranks 39th 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.