Annual forest expansion in China
China: Annual forest expansion was 1.89 million hectares per year in 2020. ▼ Falling
Annual forest expansion in China, 1990–2020
Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in hectares per year.
Analysis
China recorded 1.89 million hectares per year for annual forest expansion in 2020. That is the lowest value across all 5 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is down 16.8% over ten years.
Over the whole period, annual forest expansion in China peaked at 2.67 million hectares per year in 2000 and was at its lowest, 1.89 million hectares per year, in 2020.
That places China 1st out of 110 countries with data for 2020, putting it in the top 10%.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 2.31 million hectares per year | 2.31 million hectares per year | 2.31 million hectares per year | 1 |
| 2000s | 2.67 million hectares per year | 2.67 million hectares per year | 2.67 million hectares per year | 1 |
| 2010s | 2.18 million hectares per year | 2.09 million hectares per year | 2.27 million hectares per year | 2 |
| 2020s | 1.89 million hectares per year | 1.89 million hectares per year | 1.89 million hectares per year | 1 |
Countries ranked near China
More environment data for China
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF 15,536 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF per capita 11.03 t CO2e/capita (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Agriculture 498.98 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Building (Energy) 32.75 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Fugitive Emissions (Energy) 736.76 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Industrial Combustion (Energy) 3.9 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions (total) excluding LULUCF 1,485 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Power Industry (Energy) 4.13 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Transport (Energy) 5.54 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Waste 195.67 Mt CO2e (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is annual forest expansion in China?
- Annual forest expansion in China was 1.89 million hectares per year in 2020, according to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest annual forest expansion recorded in China?
- The highest recorded value was 2.67 million hectares per year in 2000.
- What is the lowest annual forest expansion recorded in China?
- The lowest recorded value was 1.89 million hectares per year in 2020.
- How does China rank for annual forest expansion?
- China ranks 1st out of 110 countries with data for 2020.
- Is annual forest expansion rising or falling in China?
- Over the last ten years it is down 16.8%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this China 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 forest expansion. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 5 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Forest expansion is the sum of afforestation (the establishment of forest through planting and/or deliberate seeding) and natural forest expansion (expansion of forests through natural succession on land that, until then, was under another land use).