Annual forest expansion in Germany

Germany: Annual forest expansion was 8,000 hectares per year in 2020. ▼ Falling

Latest (2020)
8,000 hectares per year
World rank
34th
of 110 countries
All-time high
12,200 hectares per year
in 1990
All-time low
8,000 hectares per year
in 2020
Years of data
5
1990–2020

Annual forest expansion in Germany, 1990–2020

02.5k5.0k7.5k10.0k12.5k1990200520201990: 12.2k hectares per year2000: 11.3k hectares per year2010: 10.7k hectares per year2015: 9.0k hectares per year2020: 8.0k hectares per year

Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in hectares per year.

Analysis

Germany recorded 8,000 hectares per year for annual forest expansion in 2020. That is the lowest value across all 5 years on record.

That represents a change of down 25.1% over ten years.

Over the whole period, annual forest expansion in Germany peaked at 12,200 hectares per year in 1990 and was at its lowest, 8,000 hectares per year, in 2020.

That places Germany 34th out of 110 countries with data for 2020, putting it in the middle of the range.

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1990s 12,200 hectares per year 12,200 hectares per year 12,200 hectares per year 1
2000s 11,330 hectares per year 11,330 hectares per year 11,330 hectares per year 1
2010s 9,840 hectares per year 9,000 hectares per year 10,680 hectares per year 2
2020s 8,000 hectares per year 8,000 hectares per year 8,000 hectares per year 1

Countries ranked near Germany

  1. 31 Hungary 9,030 hectares per year compare
  2. 32 Burkina Faso 8,050 hectares per year compare
  3. 33 Costa Rica 8,020 hectares per year compare
  4. 34 Algeria 8,000 hectares per year compare
  5. 36 Austria 7,950 hectares per year compare
  6. 37 Poland 7,790 hectares per year compare

See the full ranking of 110 places →

More environment data for Germany

All data for Germany →

Frequently asked questions

What is annual forest expansion in Germany?
Annual forest expansion in Germany was 8,000 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 Germany?
The highest recorded value was 12,200 hectares per year in 1990.
What is the lowest annual forest expansion recorded in Germany?
The lowest recorded value was 8,000 hectares per year in 2020.
How does Germany rank for annual forest expansion?
Germany ranks 34th out of 110 countries with data for 2020.
Is annual forest expansion rising or falling in Germany?
Over the last ten years it is down 25.1%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
Where does this Germany 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.

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About this data

Indicator
Annual forest expansion
Unit
hectares per year
Source
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
110 places, 550 data points, 1990–2020
Last refreshed

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).