Annual forest expansion in Democratic Republic of Congo
Democratic Republic of Congo: Annual forest expansion was 610 hectares per year in 2020. ◆ Volatile
Annual forest expansion in Democratic Republic of Congo, 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
Democratic Republic of Congo recorded 610 hectares per year for annual forest expansion in 2020.
The figure is down 67.0% over ten years.
Over the whole period, annual forest expansion in Democratic Republic of Congo peaked at 1,850 hectares per year in 2010 and was at its lowest, 430 hectares per year, in 1990.
That places Democratic Republic of Congo 63rd out of 110 countries with data for 2020, putting it in the middle of the range.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 430 hectares per year | 430 hectares per year | 430 hectares per year | 1 |
| 2000s | 600 hectares per year | 600 hectares per year | 600 hectares per year | 1 |
| 2010s | 1,465 hectares per year | 1,080 hectares per year | 1,850 hectares per year | 2 |
| 2020s | 610 hectares per year | 610 hectares per year | 610 hectares per year | 1 |
Countries ranked near Democratic Republic of Congo
More environment data for Democratic Republic of Congo
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF 58.49 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF per capita 0.5353 t CO2e/capita (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Agriculture 3.5 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Building (Energy) 7.67 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Fugitive Emissions (Energy) 17.49 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Industrial Combustion (Energy) 0.0166 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions (total) excluding LULUCF 42.16 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Power Industry (Energy) 0.0035 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Transport (Energy) 0.024 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Waste 13.45 Mt CO2e (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is annual forest expansion in Democratic Republic of Congo?
- Annual forest expansion in Democratic Republic of Congo was 610 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 Democratic Republic of Congo?
- The highest recorded value was 1,850 hectares per year in 2010.
- What is the lowest annual forest expansion recorded in Democratic Republic of Congo?
- The lowest recorded value was 430 hectares per year in 1990.
- How does Democratic Republic of Congo rank for annual forest expansion?
- Democratic Republic of Congo ranks 63rd out of 110 countries with data for 2020.
- Is annual forest expansion rising or falling in Democratic Republic of Congo?
- Over the last ten years it is down 67.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is volatile.
- Where does this Democratic Republic of Congo 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
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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).