China vs South America: Forest land — Area

China
227,153 1000 ha
in 2025
South America
848,587 1000 ha
in 2025
China rank
5th
South America rank
6th

Forest land — Area over time

  • China
  • South America
200.0k400.0k600.0k800.0k1.0M199020072025

How they compare

South America currently reports 848,587 1000 ha against 227,153 1000 ha in China, a difference of 621,434 1000 ha.

That makes South America's figure about 3.7 times China's.

Across all 36 years both countries report, South America has been ahead every year.

China ranks 5th and South America ranks 6th of 231 countries.

South America has averaged higher in every one of the 4 decades both report.

Head to head by decade

Decade China South America Difference Ahead
1990s 166,078 1000 ha 995,404 1000 ha 829,326 1000 ha South America
2000s 187,625 1000 ha 932,748 1000 ha 745,123 1000 ha South America
2010s 209,150 1000 ha 890,534 1000 ha 681,384 1000 ha South America
2020s 223,126 1000 ha 859,506 1000 ha 636,380 1000 ha South America

Averages of every year both report within each decade.

Frequently asked questions

Which has higher forest land — area, China or South America?
South America, at 848,587 1000 ha against 227,153 1000 ha in China as of 2025.
What is the difference in forest land — area between China and South America?
621,434 1000 ha, with South America ahead.
How many years of comparable data are there for China and South America?
36 years are reported by both, from 1990 to 2025.
How do China and South America rank globally for forest land — area?
China ranks 5th and South America ranks 6th of 231 countries.
Where does this data come from?
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, published as Forest land — Area. Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.

Individual pages

About this data

Indicator
Forest land — Area
Unit
1000 ha
Source
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Licence
CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO (FAO)
Coverage
267 places, 9,311 data points, 1990–2025
Last refreshed

The FAOSTAT Land Use domain contains data on twenty-one land use categories and twenty-three categories of irrigation and agricultural practices. Data are available yearly and by country, regional and global levels. The domain includes Land Use Indicators providing information on the percentage share of agricultural and forest land, and their sub-components, including irrigated areas and areas under organic agriculture, within a country land use matrix. Data are available at country, regional and global level, for the following elements: (in percentage) i) Share in Land area; ii) Share in Agricultural land, iii) Share in Cropland; and iv) Share in Forest land; (in ha/pc) v) Area per capita.