Annual change in forest area as a share of forest area in India

India: Annual change in forest area as a share of forest area was 0.1% in 2025. ▼ Falling

Latest (2025)
0.1%
Change on year
down 0.1%
World rank
57th
of 228 countries
All-time high
0.6%
in 1991
All-time low
0.1%
in 2025
Years of data
35
1991–2025

Annual change in forest area as a share of forest area in India, 1991–2025

0.10.20.30.40.50.61991200820251991: 0.568 %1992: 0.565 %1993: 0.562 %1994: 0.559 %1995: 0.555 %1996: 0.552 %1997: 0.549 %1998: 0.546 %1999: 0.543 %2000: 0.54 %2001: 0.281 %2002: 0.28 %2003: 0.279 %2004: 0.279 %2005: 0.278 %2006: 0.277 %2007: 0.276 %2008: 0.276 %2009: 0.275 %2010: 0.274 %2011: 0.382 %2012: 0.38 %2013: 0.379 %2014: 0.378 %2015: 0.376 %2016: 0.416 %2017: 0.415 %2018: 0.413 %2019: 0.411 %2020: 0.41 %2021: 0.119 %2022: 0.119 %2023: 0.119 %2024: 0.118 %2025: 0.118 %

Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in %.

Analysis

India recorded 0.1% 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.

That represents a change of down 0.1% on the previous year and down 68.6% over ten years.

Over the whole period, annual change in forest area as a share of forest area in India peaked at 0.6% in 1991 and was at its lowest, 0.1%, in 2025.

India ranks 57th of 228 countries on this measure, in the top quarter.

The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 35 years of available data.

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1990s 0.6% 0.5% 0.6% 9
2000s 0.3% 0.3% 0.5% 10
2010s 0.4% 0.3% 0.4% 10
2020s 0.2% 0.1% 0.4% 6

Countries ranked near India

  1. 54 Lithuania 0.1% compare
  2. 55 El Salvador 0.1% compare
  3. 56 Netherlands 0.1% compare
  4. 58 Costa Rica 0.1% compare
  5. 59 United Arab Emirates 0.1% compare
  6. 60 Russia 0.1% compare

See the full ranking of 228 places →

More environment data for India

All data for India →

Frequently asked questions

What is annual change in forest area as a share of forest area in India?
Annual change in forest area as a share of forest area in India was 0.1% 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 India?
The highest recorded value was 0.6% in 1991.
What is the lowest annual change in forest area as a share of forest area recorded in India?
The lowest recorded value was 0.1% in 2025.
How does India rank for annual change in forest area as a share of forest area?
India ranks 57th out of 228 countries with data for 2025.
Is annual change in forest area as a share of forest area rising or falling in India?
Over the last ten years it is down 68.6%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
Where does this India 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

Indicator
Annual change in forest area as a share of forest area
Unit
%
Source
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
228 places, 7,980 data points, 1991–2025
Last refreshed

Annual net change in forest area measures forest expansion (the sum of afforestation and natural expansion) minus deforestation.