Brazil vs China: Forest area
Brazil
486.09 million hectares
in 2025
China
227.15 million hectares
in 2025
Brazil rank
2nd
China rank
5th
Forest area over time
- Brazil
- China
How they compare
Brazil currently reports 486.09 million hectares against 227.15 million hectares in China, a difference of 258.93 million hectares.
That makes Brazil's figure about 2.1 times China's.
Across all 36 years both countries report, Brazil has been ahead every year.
Brazil ranks 2nd and China ranks 5th of 235 countries.
Brazil has averaged higher in every one of the 4 decades both report.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | Brazil | China | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 592.47 million hectares | 166.08 million hectares | 426.39 million hectares | Brazil |
| 2000s | 544.69 million hectares | 187.62 million hectares | 357.06 million hectares | Brazil |
| 2010s | 515.75 million hectares | 209.15 million hectares | 306.60 million hectares | Brazil |
| 2020s | 494.23 million hectares | 223.13 million hectares | 271.10 million hectares | Brazil |
Averages of every year both report within each decade.
Frequently asked questions
- Which has higher forest area, Brazil or China?
- Brazil, at 486.09 million hectares against 227.15 million hectares in China as of 2025.
- What is the difference in forest area between Brazil and China?
- 258.93 million hectares, with Brazil ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for Brazil and China?
- 36 years are reported by both, from 1990 to 2025.
- How do Brazil and China rank globally for forest area?
- Brazil ranks 2nd 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.