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.
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 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 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.