Annual forest expansion in United States
United States: Annual forest expansion was 815,360 hectares per year in 2020. ◆ Volatile
Annual forest expansion in United States, 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
The most recent figure for annual forest expansion in United States is 815,360 hectares per year, measured in 2020. That is the highest value across all 5 years on record.
The figure is up 196.5% over ten years.
Over the whole period, annual forest expansion in United States peaked at 815,360 hectares per year in 2020 and was at its lowest, 108,600 hectares per year, in 1990.
That places United States 3rd out of 110 countries with data for 2020, putting it in the top 10%.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 108,600 hectares per year | 108,600 hectares per year | 108,600 hectares per year | 1 |
| 2000s | 518,400 hectares per year | 518,400 hectares per year | 518,400 hectares per year | 1 |
| 2010s | 483,000 hectares per year | 275,000 hectares per year | 691,000 hectares per year | 2 |
| 2020s | 815,360 hectares per year | 815,360 hectares per year | 815,360 hectares per year | 1 |
Countries ranked near United States
More environment data for United States
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF 5,913 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF per capita 17.39 t CO2e/capita (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Agriculture 257.35 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Building (Energy) 9.47 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Fugitive Emissions (Energy) 418.87 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Industrial Combustion (Energy) 1.54 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions (total) excluding LULUCF 843.36 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Power Industry (Energy) 2 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Transport (Energy) 3.59 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Waste 149.52 Mt CO2e (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is annual forest expansion in United States?
- Annual forest expansion in United States was 815,360 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 United States?
- The highest recorded value was 815,360 hectares per year in 2020.
- What is the lowest annual forest expansion recorded in United States?
- The lowest recorded value was 108,600 hectares per year in 1990.
- How does United States rank for annual forest expansion?
- United States ranks 3rd out of 110 countries with data for 2020.
- Is annual forest expansion rising or falling in United States?
- Over the last ten years it is up 196.5%. The long-run trend across the full record is volatile.
- Where does this United States 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).