Annual change in forest area in Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea: Annual change in forest area was -3,750 hectares in 2025. ▲ Rising
Latest (2025)
-3,750 hectares
Change on year
unchanged
World rank
176th
of 235 countries
All-time high
-3,750 hectares
in 2021
All-time low
-21,918 hectares
in 2001
Years of data
35
1991–2025
Annual change in forest area in Papua New Guinea, 1991–2025
Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in hectares.
Analysis
Papua New Guinea recorded -3,750 hectares for annual change in forest area in 2025. That is the highest value across all 35 years on record.
The figure is up 18.6% over ten years.
Over the whole period, annual change in forest area in Papua New Guinea peaked at -3,750 hectares in 2021 and was at its lowest, -21,918 hectares, in 2001.
Papua New Guinea ranks 176th of 235 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 35 years of available data.
Annual change in forest area in Papua New Guinea, year by year
| Year | hectares | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1991 | -21,914 hectares | — |
| 1992 | -21,914 hectares | -0.0% |
| 1993 | -21,914 hectares | -0.0% |
| 1994 | -21,914 hectares | -0.0% |
| 1995 | -21,914 hectares | -0.0% |
| 1996 | -21,914 hectares | -0.0% |
| 1997 | -21,914 hectares | -0.0% |
| 1998 | -21,914 hectares | -0.0% |
| 1999 | -21,914 hectares | -0.0% |
| 2000 | -21,914 hectares | -0.0% |
| 2001 | -21,918 hectares | +0.0% |
| 2002 | -21,918 hectares | -0.0% |
| 2003 | -21,918 hectares | -0.0% |
| 2004 | -21,918 hectares | -0.0% |
| 2005 | -21,918 hectares | -0.0% |
| 2006 | -21,918 hectares | -0.0% |
| 2007 | -21,918 hectares | -0.0% |
| 2008 | -21,918 hectares | -0.0% |
| 2009 | -21,918 hectares | -0.0% |
| 2010 | -21,918 hectares | -0.0% |
| 2011 | -4,605 hectares | -79.0% |
| 2012 | -4,605 hectares | -0.0% |
| 2013 | -4,605 hectares | -0.0% |
| 2014 | -4,605 hectares | -0.0% |
| 2015 | -4,605 hectares | -0.0% |
| 2016 | -21,060 hectares | +357.3% |
| 2017 | -21,060 hectares | -0.0% |
| 2018 | -21,060 hectares | -0.0% |
| 2019 | -21,060 hectares | -0.0% |
| 2020 | -21,060 hectares | -0.0% |
| 2021 | -3,750 hectares | -82.2% |
| 2022 | -3,750 hectares | -0.0% |
| 2023 | -3,750 hectares | -0.0% |
| 2024 | -3,750 hectares | -0.0% |
| 2025 | -3,750 hectares | -0.0% |
Papua New Guinea compared with similar countries
- Papua New Guinea's -3,750 hectares is below the median for lower middle income countries, which is -848 hectares, 4.4× the median. (47 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | -21,914 hectares | -21,914 hectares | -21,914 hectares | 9 |
| 2000s | -21,918 hectares | -21,918 hectares | -21,914 hectares | 10 |
| 2010s | -12,919 hectares | -21,918 hectares | -4,605 hectares | 10 |
| 2020s | -6,635 hectares | -21,060 hectares | -3,750 hectares | 6 |
Countries ranked near Papua New Guinea
- 173 Norway -2,434 hectares compare
- 174 Panama -3,014 hectares compare
- 175 North Macedonia -3,244 hectares compare
- 177 South Korea -3,774 hectares compare
- 178 Ethiopia -3,920 hectares compare
- 179 French Guiana -4,180 hectares compare
More environment data for Papua New Guinea
- Historical exposure to drought — Land soil moisture anomaly 1.56 Percentage change (2025)
- Historical exposure to drought — Cropland soil moisture anomaly 2.24 Percentage change (2025)
- Standard Deviation, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Standard Deviation 0.183 °C (2025)
- Temperature change 0.834 °C (2025)
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF (Mt CO2e), annual 0.9266 % change on previous year (2024)
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF (Mt CO2e), per unit 0 Mt CO2e per US$ of GDP (2024)
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF (Mt CO2e), per capita 0 Mt CO2e per person (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Agriculture (Mt CO2e), annual growth rate 0.6032 % change on previous year (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Agriculture (Mt CO2e), per unit of GDP 0 Mt CO2e per US$ of GDP (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is annual change in forest area in Papua New Guinea?
- Annual change in forest area in Papua New Guinea was -3,750 hectares in 2025, according to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest annual change in forest area recorded in Papua New Guinea?
- The highest recorded value was -3,750 hectares in 2021.
- What is the lowest annual change in forest area recorded in Papua New Guinea?
- The lowest recorded value was -21,918 hectares in 2001.
- How does Papua New Guinea rank for annual change in forest area?
- Papua New Guinea ranks 176th out of 235 countries with data for 2025.
- Is annual change in forest area rising or falling in Papua New Guinea?
- Over the last ten years it is up 18.6%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Papua New Guinea data come from?
- The figures come from Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Annual change in forest area. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 35 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Net change in forest area measures forest expansion (the sum of afforestation and natural expansion) minus deforestation.