Annual change in forest area as a share of forest area in Democratic Republic of Congo
Democratic Republic of Congo: Annual change in forest area as a share of forest area was -0.2% in 2025. ▲ Rising
Annual change in forest area as a share of forest area in Democratic Republic of Congo, 1991–2025
Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in %.
Analysis
In 2025, annual change in forest area as a share of forest area in Democratic Republic of Congo stood at -0.2%.
The figure is down 0.2% on the previous year and up 71.3% over ten years.
Over the whole period, annual change in forest area as a share of forest area in Democratic Republic of Congo peaked at -0.2% in 2016 and was at its lowest, -0.7%, in 2015.
That places Democratic Republic of Congo 175th out of 228 countries with data for 2025, putting it in the bottom quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 35 years of available data.
Annual change in forest area as a share of forest area in Democratic Republic of Congo, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1991 | -0.4% | — |
| 1992 | -0.4% | +0.4% |
| 1993 | -0.4% | +0.4% |
| 1994 | -0.4% | +0.4% |
| 1995 | -0.4% | +0.4% |
| 1996 | -0.4% | +0.4% |
| 1997 | -0.4% | +0.4% |
| 1998 | -0.4% | +0.4% |
| 1999 | -0.4% | +0.4% |
| 2000 | -0.4% | +0.4% |
| 2001 | -0.4% | +0.4% |
| 2002 | -0.4% | +0.4% |
| 2003 | -0.4% | +0.4% |
| 2004 | -0.4% | +0.4% |
| 2005 | -0.4% | +0.4% |
| 2006 | -0.5% | +0.5% |
| 2007 | -0.5% | +0.5% |
| 2008 | -0.5% | +0.5% |
| 2009 | -0.5% | +0.5% |
| 2010 | -0.5% | +0.5% |
| 2011 | -0.7% | +49.8% |
| 2012 | -0.7% | +0.7% |
| 2013 | -0.7% | +0.7% |
| 2014 | -0.7% | +0.7% |
| 2015 | -0.7% | +0.7% |
| 2016 | -0.2% | -71.8% |
| 2017 | -0.2% | +0.2% |
| 2018 | -0.2% | +0.2% |
| 2019 | -0.2% | +0.2% |
| 2020 | -0.2% | +0.2% |
| 2021 | -0.2% | +0.2% |
| 2022 | -0.2% | +0.2% |
| 2023 | -0.2% | +0.2% |
| 2024 | -0.2% | +0.2% |
| 2025 | -0.2% | +0.2% |
Democratic Republic of Congo compared with similar countries
- Democratic Republic of Congo's -0.2% is above the median for low income countries, which is -0.5%, 44% of the median. (25 countries reporting)
- Democratic Republic of Congo's -0.2% is above the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is -0.3%, 59% of the median. (48 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Annual change in forest area as a share of forest area in Democratic Republic of Congo changed far more than this series normally does. A large move can be a real event or a change in how the figure was measured — the source note below says who published it.
| Year | Change | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | +71.8% | -0.7% | -0.2% |
| 2011 | -49.8% | -0.5% | -0.7% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | -0.4% | -0.4% | -0.4% | 9 |
| 2000s | -0.4% | -0.5% | -0.4% | 10 |
| 2010s | -0.5% | -0.7% | -0.2% | 10 |
| 2020s | -0.2% | -0.2% | -0.2% | 6 |
Countries ranked near Democratic Republic of Congo
More environment data for Democratic Republic of Congo
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF (Mt CO2e), annual 2.26 % change on previous year (2024)
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF (Mt CO2e), per unit 0 Mt CO2e per US$ of GDP (2024)
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF (Mt CO2e), per capita 0 Mt CO2e per person (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Agriculture (Mt CO2e), annual growth rate 5.2 % change on previous year (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Agriculture (Mt CO2e), per unit of GDP 0 Mt CO2e per US$ of GDP (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Agriculture (Mt CO2e), per capita 0 Mt CO2e per person (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Building (Energy) (Mt CO2e), annual 0 % change on previous year (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Building (Energy) (Mt CO2e), per unit of 0 Mt CO2e per US$ of GDP (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Building (Energy) (Mt CO2e), per capita 0 Mt CO2e per person (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Fugitive Emissions (Energy) (Mt CO2e) 0.338 % change on previous year (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is annual change in forest area as a share of forest area in Democratic Republic of Congo?
- Annual change in forest area as a share of forest area in Democratic Republic of Congo was -0.2% 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 Democratic Republic of Congo?
- The highest recorded value was -0.2% in 2016.
- What is the lowest annual change in forest area as a share of forest area recorded in Democratic Republic of Congo?
- The lowest recorded value was -0.7% in 2015.
- How does Democratic Republic of Congo rank for annual change in forest area as a share of forest area?
- Democratic Republic of Congo ranks 175th out of 228 countries with data for 2025.
- Is annual change in forest area as a share of forest area rising or falling in Democratic Republic of Congo?
- Over the last ten years it is up 71.3%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- 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 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.