15.4.2a Mountain Green Cover Index: Total; Land Cover: Sparsely natural vegetated areas — Value by country
As the custodian agency of 22 SDG indicators, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) is responsible for curating and refining the methodologies of these indicators, collecting data from national sources, ensuring their quality and compatibility with applicable standards and...
What the numbers show
15.4.2a Mountain Green Cover Index: Total; Land Cover: Sparsely natural vegetated areas — Value is currently reported for 82 countries. The highest value is 45.6 % in Ascension, Saint Helena and Tristan da Cunha; the lowest is 0 % in Australia.
The median across all reporting countries is 1.94 %, and the mean is 3.98 %.
Over the past decade 43 countries rose and 19 fell. The largest increase was in Mali (up 109.6%), and the largest decrease in Finland (down 64.2%).
15.4.2a Mountain Green Cover Index: Total; Land Cover: Sparsely: full country ranking
| # | Country | Latest | Year | 10-year change | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ascension, Saint Helena and Tristan da Cunha | 45.6 % | 2021 | down 0.1% | flat |
| 2 | Iceland | 18.26 % | 2021 | up 0.3% | flat |
| 3 | Afghanistan | 14.26 % | 2021 | up 0.6% | flat |
| 4 | Somalia | 13.27 % | 2021 | up 6.8% | rising |
| 5 | Yemen | 12.82 % | 2021 | up 2.5% | rising |
| 6 | Pakistan | 11.53 % | 2021 | up 0.3% | flat |
| 7 | Djibouti | 10.19 % | 2021 | down 10.8% | rising |
| 8 | Sweden | 9.28 % | 2021 | down 1.6% | flat |
| 9 | Montenegro | 8.62 % | 2021 | unchanged | rising |
| 10 | Ireland | 7.99 % | 2021 | up 0.4% | rising |
| 11 | Faroe Islands | 7.86 % | 2021 | unchanged | rising |
| 12 | Eritrea | 7.43 % | 2021 | up 5.1% | rising |
| 13 | Namibia | 7.38 % | 2021 | up 1.2% | rising |
| 14 | United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland | 7.31 % | 2021 | up 0.7% | falling |
| 15 | Albania | 6.99 % | 2021 | down 1.1% | flat |
| 15 | Switzerland | 6.99 % | 2021 | up 6.2% | rising |
| 17 | Saudi Arabia | 6.55 % | 2021 | up 0.5% | rising |
| 18 | Jordan | 6.43 % | 2021 | down 1.2% | flat |
| 19 | Italy | 6.4 % | 2021 | up 27.7% | rising |
| 20 | Chile | 6.09 % | 2021 | down 0.2% | flat |
| 21 | Oman | 5.81 % | 2021 | up 1.8% | flat |
| 22 | Morocco | 5.33 % | 2021 | up 1.7% | flat |
| 23 | Niger | 5.27 % | 2021 | down 18.4% | flat |
| 24 | Austria | 5.14 % | 2021 | up 0.2% | flat |
| 25 | Tajikistan | 4.71 % | 2021 | up 1.3% | flat |
| 26 | Turkmenistan | 4.5 % | 2021 | up 21.0% | rising |
| 27 | Kyrgyzstan | 4.36 % | 2021 | up 0.5% | flat |
| 28 | Liechtenstein | 4.21 % | 2021 | up 3.2% | rising |
| 29 | Tunisia | 4.12 % | 2021 | up 12.6% | rising |
| 29 | China, mainland | 4.12 % | 2021 | unchanged | flat |
| 31 | Mongolia | 4.01 % | 2021 | unchanged | flat |
| 32 | Finland | 3.72 % | 2021 | down 64.2% | volatile |
| 33 | France | 3.64 % | 2021 | up 0.6% | flat |
| 34 | Greece | 3.38 % | 2021 | up 6.0% | rising |
| 35 | Uzbekistan | 3.26 % | 2021 | up 13.6% | rising |
| 36 | Algeria | 3.02 % | 2021 | up 13.1% | rising |
| 37 | Sudan | 2.77 % | 2021 | up 0.4% | flat |
| 38 | Bosnia and Herzegovina | 2.34 % | 2021 | up 11.4% | rising |
| 39 | Spain | 2.31 % | 2021 | up 5.5% | falling |
| 40 | Portugal | 2.12 % | 2021 | down 15.9% | falling |
| 41 | Peru | 1.97 % | 2021 | down 0.5% | flat |
| 42 | Nepal | 1.92 % | 2021 | down 0.5% | flat |
| 43 | Croatia | 1.9 % | 2021 | up 2.7% | falling |
| 44 | Mauritania | 1.88 % | 2021 | up 4.4% | rising |
| 45 | Palestine | 1.66 % | 2021 | down 10.8% | falling |
| 46 | Libya | 1.61 % | 2021 | down 13.0% | falling |
| 47 | Mali | 1.53 % | 2021 | up 109.6% | rising |
| 48 | Cyprus | 1.31 % | 2021 | up 47.2% | rising |
| 48 | Kenya | 1.31 % | 2021 | up 5.6% | rising |
| 50 | French Polynesia | 1.22 % | 2021 | unchanged | flat |
| 51 | Iraq | 1.01 % | 2021 | down 29.9% | falling |
| 52 | Ethiopia | 0.96 % | 2021 | down 2.0% | rising |
| 53 | Serbia | 0.91 % | 2021 | up 3.4% | rising |
| 54 | United Arab Emirates | 0.87 % | 2021 | down 22.3% | falling |
| 55 | Chad | 0.86 % | 2021 | down 15.7% | falling |
| 56 | Bulgaria | 0.77 % | 2021 | up 1.3% | falling |
| 57 | Slovenia | 0.74 % | 2021 | unchanged | flat |
| 58 | Angola | 0.67 % | 2021 | up 15.5% | rising |
| 58 | Kazakhstan | 0.67 % | 2021 | up 4.7% | rising |
| 60 | Lebanon | 0.64 % | 2021 | up 6.7% | rising |
| 61 | India | 0.58 % | 2021 | unchanged | flat |
| 62 | North Macedonia | 0.52 % | 2021 | unchanged | rising |
| 63 | Egypt | 0.32 % | 2021 | down 13.5% | falling |
| 64 | Mexico | 0.3 % | 2021 | up 7.1% | flat |
| 65 | Slovakia | 0.19 % | 2021 | unchanged | flat |
| 66 | Azerbaijan | 0.17 % | 2021 | up 30.8% | rising |
| 66 | Bhutan | 0.17 % | 2021 | unchanged | rising |
| 68 | Fiji | 0.13 % | 2021 | unchanged | flat |
| 69 | Russian Federation | 0.09 % | 2021 | unchanged | flat |
| 70 | Romania | 0.08 % | 2021 | up 14.3% | falling |
| 71 | Andorra | 0.07 % | 2021 | up 16.7% | rising |
| 71 | New Zealand | 0.07 % | 2021 | unchanged | flat |
| 73 | Poland | 0.04 % | 2021 | up 33.3% | rising |
| 74 | Western Sahara | 0.03 % | 2021 | down 25.0% | rising |
| 74 | Australia and New Zealand | 0.03 % | 2021 | unchanged | flat |
| 76 | Czechia | 0.02 % | 2021 | up 100.0% | volatile |
| 76 | Georgia | 0.02 % | 2021 | unchanged | flat |
| 78 | Armenia | 0.01 % | 2021 | unchanged | flat |
| 78 | Ecuador | 0.01 % | 2021 | unchanged | flat |
| 78 | Saint Vincent and the Grenadines | 0.01 % | 2021 | unchanged | flat |
| 78 | Samoa | 0.01 % | 2021 | unchanged | flat |
| 82 | Australia | 0 % | 2021 | — | volatile |
Regions and income groups
Aggregates are excluded from the country ranking above so that a region can never outrank a country.
- Western Asia 10.6 %
- Iran (Islamic Republic of) 8.76 %
- Syrian Arab Republic 8.3 %
- Southern Asia 7.87 %
- Western Asia and Northern Africa 7.64 %
- Bolivia (Plurinational State of) 5.49 %
- Central Asia and Southern Asia 6.89 %
- Least Developed Countries (LDCs) 3.04 %
- Eastern Asia 3.91 %
- Small Island Developing States (SIDS) 0.01 %
- Land Locked Developing Countries (LLDCs) 3.77 %
- Northern Africa 3.28 %
- Central Asia 3.14 %
- Eastern Asia and South-eastern Asia 3.08 %
- World 2.78 %
- Latin America and the Caribbean 2.23 %
- Europe 1.93 %
- Northern America and Europe 1.4 %
- Sub-Saharan Africa 1.14 %
- Cabo Verde 1.01 %
- United States of America 0.9 %
- Northern America 0.66 %
- Oceania 0.02 %
- Oceania excluding Australia and New Zealand 0.01 %
About this data
As the custodian agency of 22 SDG indicators, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) is responsible for curating and refining the methodologies of these indicators, collecting data from national sources, ensuring their quality and compatibility with applicable standards and classifications, and disseminating data at global level. This FAOSTAT domain complements the global SDG database administered by the United Nations Statistical Division (UNSD), as well as FAO’s SDG indicators portal, by providing access to the available data for all SDG Indicators under FAO custodianship. While this metadata page provides summary information on all SDG indicators data disseminated through FAOSTAT, indicator-specific metadata can be accessed from the link on the right hand navigation column. This additional metadata file provides details on the methodology used to compile each indicators, their data sources and the contact information of the relevant FAO focal point. It includes the links to the official SDG Indicator metadata documents accessible from the UNSD global SDG database.SDG Indicators under FAO custodianship, consisting of 22 indicators and 66 series that fall under six goals: • Goal 2: End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture.• Goal 5: Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls.• Goal 6: Clean water and sanitation: Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all.• Goal 12: Responsible consumption and production.• Goal 14: Life below water: Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources.• Goal 15: Life on land: Sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, halt and reverse land degradation, halt biodiversity loss.