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

Nigeria: Annual change in forest area as a share of forest area was -0.7% in 2025. ▼ Falling

Latest (2025)
-0.7%
Change on year
down 0.7%
World rank
203rd
of 228 countries
All-time high
-0.6%
in 1991
All-time low
-0.7%
in 2025
Years of data
35
1991–2025

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

-0.75-0.7-0.65-0.61991200820251991: -0.592 %1992: -0.595 %1993: -0.599 %1994: -0.602 %1995: -0.606 %1996: -0.61 %1997: -0.613 %1998: -0.617 %1999: -0.621 %2000: -0.625 %2001: -0.629 %2002: -0.633 %2003: -0.637 %2004: -0.641 %2005: -0.645 %2006: -0.649 %2007: -0.654 %2008: -0.658 %2009: -0.662 %2010: -0.667 %2011: -0.671 %2012: -0.676 %2013: -0.68 %2014: -0.685 %2015: -0.69 %2016: -0.694 %2017: -0.699 %2018: -0.704 %2019: -0.709 %2020: -0.714 %2021: -0.719 %2022: -0.725 %2023: -0.73 %2024: -0.735 %2025: -0.741 %

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

Analysis

The most recent figure for annual change in forest area as a share of forest area in Nigeria is -0.7%, measured in 2025. That is the lowest value across all 35 years on record.

That represents a change of down 0.7% on the previous year and down 7.4% over ten years.

Over the whole period, annual change in forest area as a share of forest area in Nigeria peaked at -0.6% in 1991 and was at its lowest, -0.7%, in 2025.

Nigeria ranks 203rd 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.

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1990s -0.6% -0.6% -0.6% 9
2000s -0.6% -0.7% -0.6% 10
2010s -0.7% -0.7% -0.7% 10
2020s -0.7% -0.7% -0.7% 6

Countries ranked near Nigeria

  1. 200 Liberia -0.6% compare
  2. 201 Brazil -0.7% compare
  3. 202 Thailand -0.7% compare
  4. 204 Sudan -0.8% compare
  5. 205 Angola -0.8% compare
  6. 206 Sierra Leone -0.8% compare

See the full ranking of 228 places →

More environment data for Nigeria

All data for Nigeria →

Frequently asked questions

What is annual change in forest area as a share of forest area in Nigeria?
Annual change in forest area as a share of forest area in Nigeria was -0.7% 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 Nigeria?
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 Nigeria?
The lowest recorded value was -0.7% in 2025.
How does Nigeria rank for annual change in forest area as a share of forest area?
Nigeria ranks 203rd out of 228 countries with data for 2025.
Is annual change in forest area as a share of forest area rising or falling in Nigeria?
Over the last ten years it is down 7.4%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
Where does this Nigeria 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.