15.4.2a Mountain Green Cover Index: Total; Land Cover: Terrestrial barren land — 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: Terrestrial barren land — Value is currently reported for 105 countries. The highest value is 99.84 % in Western Sahara; the lowest is 0 % in Solomon Islands.
The median across all reporting countries is 1.02 %, and the mean is 15.48 %.
Over the past decade 48 countries rose and 23 fell. The largest increase was in New Zealand (up 150.0%), and the largest decrease in Mozambique (down 100.0%).
15.4.2a Mountain Green Cover Index: Total; Land Cover: Terrestrial: full country ranking
| # | Country | Latest | Year | 10-year change | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Western Sahara | 99.84 % | 2021 | down 0.1% | flat |
| 2 | Egypt | 99.39 % | 2021 | up 0.0% | flat |
| 3 | United Arab Emirates | 94.71 % | 2021 | down 1.3% | flat |
| 4 | Niger | 88.66 % | 2021 | up 2.5% | flat |
| 5 | Libya | 87.26 % | 2021 | down 0.1% | flat |
| 6 | Mauritania | 85.73 % | 2021 | up 1.9% | flat |
| 6 | Democratic Republic of the Congo | 0 % | 2021 | — | volatile |
| 7 | Saudi Arabia | 81.74 % | 2021 | up 0.1% | flat |
| 8 | Chad | 79.96 % | 2021 | up 0.1% | flat |
| 9 | Oman | 77.82 % | 2021 | down 0.4% | flat |
| 10 | Sudan | 63.05 % | 2021 | up 0.2% | flat |
| 11 | Réunion | 62.76 % | 2021 | down 1.1% | flat |
| 12 | Jordan | 59 % | 2021 | up 0.7% | flat |
| 13 | Algeria | 55.55 % | 2021 | up 0.6% | flat |
| 14 | Djibouti | 48.8 % | 2021 | up 14.4% | rising |
| 14 | Cabo Verde | 2.44 % | 2021 | down 0.4% | flat |
| 15 | Pakistan | 41.76 % | 2021 | up 0.2% | flat |
| 16 | Yemen | 41.64 % | 2021 | up 0.7% | flat |
| 17 | Chile | 39.67 % | 2021 | up 0.6% | flat |
| 18 | Namibia | 37.05 % | 2021 | up 3.9% | flat |
| 19 | Morocco | 36.79 % | 2021 | up 1.2% | flat |
| 20 | Tajikistan | 35.3 % | 2021 | up 1.0% | flat |
| 21 | Iceland | 31.02 % | 2021 | up 2.2% | flat |
| 22 | Eritrea | 29.27 % | 2021 | up 3.1% | flat |
| 23 | Afghanistan | 28.84 % | 2021 | up 0.2% | flat |
| 24 | Finland | 19.98 % | 2021 | up 39.1% | volatile |
| 25 | China, mainland | 19.77 % | 2021 | up 0.1% | flat |
| 26 | Tunisia | 17.72 % | 2021 | up 5.2% | flat |
| 27 | Mauritius | 17.08 % | 2021 | down 0.2% | flat |
| 28 | Somalia | 15.68 % | 2021 | up 9.7% | rising |
| 29 | Mongolia | 15.09 % | 2021 | unchanged | flat |
| 30 | Ascension, Saint Helena and Tristan da Cunha | 10.57 % | 2021 | unchanged | flat |
| 31 | Switzerland | 10.24 % | 2021 | down 0.2% | flat |
| 32 | Peru | 9.17 % | 2021 | up 0.1% | flat |
| 33 | Kyrgyzstan | 9.14 % | 2021 | up 1.6% | rising |
| 34 | Turkmenistan | 7.75 % | 2021 | up 14.3% | rising |
| 35 | South Africa | 6.25 % | 2021 | down 7.5% | flat |
| 36 | Palestine, State of | 6.22 % | 2021 | down 4.7% | flat |
| 37 | Sweden | 5.47 % | 2021 | down 1.4% | flat |
| 38 | Mali | 5.31 % | 2021 | up 43.5% | rising |
| 39 | Austria | 4.29 % | 2021 | up 1.9% | flat |
| 40 | Nepal | 3.6 % | 2021 | up 11.1% | rising |
| 41 | France | 3.55 % | 2021 | down 0.8% | flat |
| 42 | Italy | 3.16 % | 2021 | unchanged | flat |
| 43 | India | 2.57 % | 2021 | up 12.2% | rising |
| 43 | Uzbekistan | 2.57 % | 2021 | up 8.0% | rising |
| 45 | Ecuador | 2.36 % | 2021 | unchanged | flat |
| 46 | Ethiopia | 2.2 % | 2021 | up 12.8% | rising |
| 47 | Angola | 1.97 % | 2021 | up 31.3% | rising |
| 48 | Montenegro | 1.79 % | 2021 | unchanged | rising |
| 49 | Liechtenstein | 1.76 % | 2021 | up 38.6% | falling |
| 50 | Albania | 1.64 % | 2021 | up 20.6% | rising |
| 51 | Slovenia | 1.24 % | 2021 | unchanged | flat |
| 52 | Ireland | 1.02 % | 2021 | up 12.1% | rising |
| 53 | Lebanon | 0.96 % | 2021 | up 3.2% | flat |
| 54 | Russian Federation | 0.94 % | 2021 | down 1.1% | flat |
| 55 | Spain | 0.89 % | 2021 | down 2.2% | flat |
| 56 | Kenya | 0.87 % | 2021 | up 3.6% | flat |
| 57 | Greece | 0.54 % | 2021 | up 5.9% | rising |
| 58 | United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland | 0.52 % | 2021 | unchanged | volatile |
| 59 | Bhutan | 0.49 % | 2021 | up 2.1% | falling |
| 60 | Kazakhstan | 0.44 % | 2021 | down 4.3% | falling |
| 61 | Iraq | 0.33 % | 2021 | down 62.1% | falling |
| 62 | Georgia | 0.3 % | 2021 | up 76.5% | rising |
| 63 | Bulgaria | 0.28 % | 2021 | unchanged | rising |
| 64 | Slovakia | 0.23 % | 2021 | unchanged | flat |
| 65 | Faroe Islands | 0.22 % | 2021 | up 10.0% | rising |
| 65 | Vanuatu | 0.22 % | 2021 | up 144.4% | rising |
| 67 | Bosnia and Herzegovina | 0.17 % | 2021 | down 5.6% | falling |
| 68 | Poland | 0.15 % | 2021 | down 6.2% | falling |
| 68 | Romania | 0.15 % | 2021 | up 15.4% | rising |
| 70 | Mexico | 0.14 % | 2021 | up 16.7% | rising |
| 71 | Azerbaijan | 0.1 % | 2021 | up 25.0% | rising |
| 71 | New Zealand | 0.1 % | 2021 | up 150.0% | rising |
| 73 | Andorra | 0.09 % | 2021 | unchanged | flat |
| 74 | Portugal | 0.07 % | 2021 | down 12.5% | volatile |
| 75 | Saint Vincent and the Grenadines | 0.05 % | 2021 | up 25.0% | rising |
| 76 | Cyprus | 0.04 % | 2021 | down 20.0% | volatile |
| 76 | North Macedonia | 0.04 % | 2021 | unchanged | rising |
| 76 | Australia and New Zealand | 0.04 % | 2021 | up 100.0% | rising |
| 79 | Montserrat | 0.03 % | 2021 | unchanged | volatile |
| 80 | Armenia | 0.02 % | 2021 | unchanged | flat |
| 80 | Japan | 0.02 % | 2021 | unchanged | falling |
| 80 | Nicaragua | 0.02 % | 2021 | unchanged | falling |
| 80 | Serbia | 0.02 % | 2021 | down 33.3% | falling |
| 84 | Colombia | 0.01 % | 2021 | unchanged | flat |
| 84 | Czechia | 0.01 % | 2021 | unchanged | flat |
| 84 | Equatorial Guinea | 0.01 % | 2021 | unchanged | flat |
| 84 | Guatemala | 0.01 % | 2021 | unchanged | volatile |
| 84 | Guyana | 0.01 % | 2021 | — | volatile |
| 84 | Croatia | 0.01 % | 2021 | unchanged | volatile |
| 84 | Indonesia | 0.01 % | 2021 | — | volatile |
| 84 | Saint Lucia | 0.01 % | 2021 | unchanged | volatile |
| 84 | Lesotho | 0.01 % | 2021 | — | volatile |
| 84 | Myanmar | 0.01 % | 2021 | down 66.7% | falling |
| 84 | Papua New Guinea | 0.01 % | 2021 | unchanged | falling |
| 84 | El Salvador | 0.01 % | 2021 | unchanged | flat |
| 84 | Zimbabwe | 0.01 % | 2021 | — | volatile |
| 84 | Martinique | 0.01 % | 2021 | unchanged | flat |
| 98 | Botswana | 0 % | 2021 | — | volatile |
| 98 | Costa Rica | 0 % | 2021 | — | volatile |
| 98 | Gabon | 0 % | 2021 | — | volatile |
| 98 | Mozambique | 0 % | 2021 | down 100.0% | volatile |
| 98 | Panama | 0 % | 2021 | — | volatile |
| 98 | Solomon Islands | 0 % | 2021 | — | volatile |
Regions and income groups
Aggregates are excluded from the country ranking above so that a region can never outrank a country.
- Northern Africa 56.79 %
- Iran (Islamic Republic of) 41.49 %
- Western Asia and Northern Africa 40.12 %
- Syrian Arab Republic 28.56 %
- Western Asia 28.82 %
- Least Developed Countries (LDCs) 12.37 %
- Southern Asia 28.43 %
- Bolivia (Plurinational State of) 9.01 %
- Central Asia and Southern Asia 24.93 %
- Small island developing states (SIDS) 0.05 %
- Eastern Asia 18.38 %
- Eastern Asia and South-eastern Asia 14.49 %
- Land Locked Developing Countries (LLDCs) 12.28 %
- Central Asia 11.59 %
- World 11.3 %
- Latin America and the Caribbean 9.15 %
- Sub-Saharan Africa 7.66 %
- Northern America 2.84 %
- Northern America and Europe 2.18 %
- United States of America 2.09 %
- Europe 1.71 %
- Oceania 0.03 %
- Oceania excluding Australia and New Zealand 0.01 %
- South-Eastern Asia 0 %
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.