Annual change in forest area as a share of forest area in China
China: Annual change in forest area as a share of forest area was 0.7% in 2025. ▼ Falling
Annual change in forest area as a share of forest area in China, 1991–2025
Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in %.
Analysis
China recorded 0.7% for annual change in forest area as a share of forest area in 2025. That is the lowest value across all 35 years on record.
The figure is down 0.7% on the previous year and down 23.0% over ten years.
Over the whole period, annual change in forest area as a share of forest area in China peaked at 1.3% in 2001 and was at its lowest, 0.7%, in 2025.
That places China 15th out of 228 countries with data for 2025, putting it in the top 10%.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 35 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 1.2% | 1.1% | 1.2% | 9 |
| 2000s | 1.2% | 1.1% | 1.3% | 10 |
| 2010s | 0.9% | 0.8% | 1.2% | 10 |
| 2020s | 0.7% | 0.7% | 0.8% | 6 |
Countries ranked near China
- 12 Azerbaijan 0.9% compare
- 13 Wallis and Futuna 0.8% compare
- 14 United States Virgin Islands 0.7% compare
- 16 New Zealand 0.7% compare
- 17 Pakistan 0.7% compare
- 18 Jamaica 0.6% compare
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 change in forest area as a share of forest area in China?
- Annual change in forest area as a share of forest area in China was 0.7% 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 as a share of forest area recorded in China?
- The highest recorded value was 1.3% in 2001.
- What is the lowest annual change in forest area as a share of forest area recorded in China?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.7% in 2025.
- How does China rank for annual change in forest area as a share of forest area?
- China ranks 15th out of 228 countries with data for 2025.
- Is annual change in forest area as a share of forest area rising or falling in China?
- Over the last ten years it is down 23.0%. 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 change in forest area as a share of 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
Annual net change in forest area measures forest expansion (the sum of afforestation and natural expansion) minus deforestation.