Annual change in forest area as a share of forest area in Malawi
Malawi: Annual change in forest area as a share of forest area was -2.1% in 2025. ▼ Falling
Annual change in forest area as a share of forest area in Malawi, 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 Malawi stood at -2.1%. That is the lowest value across all 35 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is down 2.1% on the previous year and down 20.7% over ten years.
Over the whole period, annual change in forest area as a share of forest area in Malawi peaked at -1.2% in 1991 and was at its lowest, -2.1%, in 2025.
Malawi ranks 223rd of 228 countries on this measure, in the bottom quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 35 years of available data.
Annual change in forest area as a share of forest area in Malawi, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1991 | -1.2% | — |
| 1992 | -1.2% | +1.2% |
| 1993 | -1.2% | +1.2% |
| 1994 | -1.3% | +1.3% |
| 1995 | -1.3% | +1.3% |
| 1996 | -1.3% | +1.3% |
| 1997 | -1.3% | +1.3% |
| 1998 | -1.3% | +1.3% |
| 1999 | -1.3% | +1.3% |
| 2000 | -1.4% | +1.4% |
| 2001 | -1.4% | +1.4% |
| 2002 | -1.4% | +1.4% |
| 2003 | -1.4% | +1.4% |
| 2004 | -1.4% | +1.4% |
| 2005 | -1.5% | +1.5% |
| 2006 | -1.5% | +1.5% |
| 2007 | -1.5% | +1.5% |
| 2008 | -1.5% | +1.5% |
| 2009 | -1.6% | +1.6% |
| 2010 | -1.6% | +1.6% |
| 2011 | -1.6% | +1.6% |
| 2012 | -1.6% | +1.6% |
| 2013 | -1.7% | +1.7% |
| 2014 | -1.7% | +1.7% |
| 2015 | -1.7% | +1.7% |
| 2016 | -1.7% | +1.7% |
| 2017 | -1.8% | +1.8% |
| 2018 | -1.8% | +1.8% |
| 2019 | -1.8% | +1.8% |
| 2020 | -1.9% | +1.9% |
| 2021 | -1.9% | +1.9% |
| 2022 | -1.9% | +1.9% |
| 2023 | -2.0% | +2.0% |
| 2024 | -2.0% | +2.0% |
| 2025 | -2.1% | +2.1% |
Malawi compared with similar countries
- Malawi's -2.1% is below the median for low income countries, which is -0.5%, 4.4× the median. (25 countries reporting)
- Malawi's -2.1% is below the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is -0.3%, 6.0× the median. (48 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | -1.3% | -1.3% | -1.2% | 9 |
| 2000s | -1.5% | -1.6% | -1.4% | 10 |
| 2010s | -1.7% | -1.8% | -1.6% | 10 |
| 2020s | -2.0% | -2.1% | -1.9% | 6 |
Countries ranked near Malawi
More environment data for Malawi
- Historical exposure to drought — Land soil moisture anomaly -0.9153 Percentage change (2025)
- Historical exposure to drought — Cropland soil moisture anomaly -0.8098 Percentage change (2025)
- Standard Deviation, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Standard Deviation 0.254 °C (2025)
- Temperature change 1.07 °C (2025)
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF (Mt CO2e), annual 3.65 % 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 5.3 % change on previous year (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Agriculture (Mt CO2e), per unit of GDP 0 Mt CO2e per US$ of GDP (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is annual change in forest area as a share of forest area in Malawi?
- Annual change in forest area as a share of forest area in Malawi was -2.1% 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 Malawi?
- The highest recorded value was -1.2% in 1991.
- What is the lowest annual change in forest area as a share of forest area recorded in Malawi?
- The lowest recorded value was -2.1% in 2025.
- How does Malawi rank for annual change in forest area as a share of forest area?
- Malawi ranks 223rd out of 228 countries with data for 2025.
- Is annual change in forest area as a share of forest area rising or falling in Malawi?
- Over the last ten years it is down 20.7%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Malawi 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.