Papua New Guinea vs Sub-Saharan Africa: Primary Forest — Area

Papua New Guinea
19,444 1000 ha
in 2025
Sub-Saharan Africa
162,234 1000 ha
in 2025
Papua New Guinea rank
9th
Sub-Saharan Africa rank
6th

Primary Forest — Area over time

  • Papua New Guinea
  • Sub-Saharan Africa
050.0k100.0k150.0k200.0k199020072025

How they compare

Sub-Saharan Africa currently reports 162,234 1000 ha against 19,444 1000 ha in Papua New Guinea, a difference of 142,790 1000 ha.

That makes Sub-Saharan Africa's figure about 8.3 times Papua New Guinea's.

Across all 36 years both countries report, Sub-Saharan Africa has been ahead every year.

Papua New Guinea ranks 9th and Sub-Saharan Africa ranks 6th of 156 countries.

Sub-Saharan Africa has averaged higher in every one of the 4 decades both report.

Head to head by decade

Decade Papua New Guinea Sub-Saharan Africa Difference Ahead
1990s 19,710 1000 ha 186,789 1000 ha 167,079 1000 ha Sub-Saharan Africa
2000s 19,643 1000 ha 178,574 1000 ha 158,932 1000 ha Sub-Saharan Africa
2010s 19,569 1000 ha 168,928 1000 ha 149,358 1000 ha Sub-Saharan Africa
2020s 19,476 1000 ha 163,590 1000 ha 144,114 1000 ha Sub-Saharan Africa

Averages of every year both report within each decade.

Frequently asked questions

Which has higher primary forest — area, Papua New Guinea or Sub-Saharan Africa?
Sub-Saharan Africa, at 162,234 1000 ha against 19,444 1000 ha in Papua New Guinea as of 2025.
What is the difference in primary forest — area between Papua New Guinea and Sub-Saharan Africa?
142,790 1000 ha, with Sub-Saharan Africa ahead.
How many years of comparable data are there for Papua New Guinea and Sub-Saharan Africa?
36 years are reported by both, from 1990 to 2025.
How do Papua New Guinea and Sub-Saharan Africa rank globally for primary forest — area?
Papua New Guinea ranks 9th and Sub-Saharan Africa ranks 6th of 156 countries.
Where does this data come from?
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, published as Primary Forest — Area. Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.

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Papua New Guinea vs Sub-Saharan Africa: Primary Forest — Area. Statizoid, drawing on Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Retrieved 18 August 2026, from https://environment.statizoid.com/compare/primary-forest-area/papua-new-guinea/sub-saharan-africa/

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About this data

Indicator
Primary Forest — Area
Unit
1000 ha
Source
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Licence
CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO (FAO)
Coverage
204 places, 7,156 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.