Annual change in forest area as a share of forest area in Iceland
Iceland: Annual change in forest area as a share of forest area was 1.6% in 2025. ◆ Volatile
Annual change in forest area as a share of forest area in Iceland, 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 Iceland stood at 1.6%.
That represents a change of down 1.6% on the previous year and down 7.1% over ten years.
Over the whole period, annual change in forest area as a share of forest area in Iceland peaked at 7.4% in 1991 and was at its lowest, 1.2%, in 2020.
That places Iceland 4th out of 228 countries with data for 2025, putting it in the top 10%.
The series is highly variable year to year, so single readings are best treated with caution.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 5.8% | 4.6% | 7.4% | 9 |
| 2000s | 4.2% | 3.5% | 4.9% | 10 |
| 2010s | 1.7% | 1.2% | 3.4% | 10 |
| 2020s | 1.6% | 1.2% | 1.7% | 6 |
Countries ranked near Iceland
More environment data for Iceland
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF 4.28 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF per capita 11.08 t CO2e/capita (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Agriculture 0.2793 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Building (Energy) 0.0015 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Fugitive Emissions (Energy) 0 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Industrial Combustion (Energy) 0.0001 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions (total) excluding LULUCF 0.4807 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Power Industry (Energy) 0 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Transport (Energy) 0.0021 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Waste 0.194 Mt CO2e (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is annual change in forest area as a share of forest area in Iceland?
- Annual change in forest area as a share of forest area in Iceland was 1.6% 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 Iceland?
- The highest recorded value was 7.4% in 1991.
- What is the lowest annual change in forest area as a share of forest area recorded in Iceland?
- The lowest recorded value was 1.2% in 2020.
- How does Iceland rank for annual change in forest area as a share of forest area?
- Iceland ranks 4th out of 228 countries with data for 2025.
- Is annual change in forest area as a share of forest area rising or falling in Iceland?
- Over the last ten years it is down 7.1%. The long-run trend across the full record is volatile.
- Where does this Iceland 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.