South America vs United States: Forest land — Area

South America
848,587 1000 ha
in 2025
United States
308,895 1000 ha
in 2025
South America rank
6th
United States rank
6th

Forest land — Area over time

  • South America
  • United States
400.0k600.0k800.0k1.0M199020072025

How they compare

South America currently reports 848,587 1000 ha against 308,895 1000 ha in United States, a difference of 539,692 1000 ha.

That makes South America's figure about 2.7 times United States's.

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

South America ranks 6th and United States ranks 6th of 32 groups.

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

Head to head by decade

Decade South America United States Difference Ahead
1990s 995,404 1000 ha 302,939 1000 ha 692,465 1000 ha South America
2000s 932,748 1000 ha 305,869 1000 ha 626,879 1000 ha South America
2010s 890,534 1000 ha 309,514 1000 ha 581,020 1000 ha South America
2020s 859,506 1000 ha 309,075 1000 ha 550,431 1000 ha South America

Averages of every year both report within each decade.

Frequently asked questions

Which has higher forest land — area, South America or United States?
South America, at 848,587 1000 ha against 308,895 1000 ha in United States as of 2025.
What is the difference in forest land — area between South America and United States?
539,692 1000 ha, with South America ahead.
How many years of comparable data are there for South America and United States?
36 years are reported by both, from 1990 to 2025.
How do South America and United States rank globally for forest land — area?
South America ranks 6th and United States ranks 6th of 32 groups.
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.

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South America vs United States: Forest land — Area. Statizoid, drawing on Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Retrieved 27 September 2026, from https://environment.statizoid.com/compare/forest-land-area/south-america/united-states/

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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
281 places, 9,790 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.