Annual change in forest area vs. GDP per capita in India
India: Annual change in forest area vs. GDP per capita was 0.1% in 2025. ▼ Falling
Annual change in forest area vs. GDP per capita in India, 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 vs. gdp per capita in India stood at 0.1%. 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 vs. gdp per capita in India peaked at 0.6% in 1991 and was at its lowest, 0.1%, in 2025.
That places India 56th out of 227 countries with data for 2025, putting it in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 35 years of available data.
Annual change in forest area vs. GDP per capita in India, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1991 | 0.6% | — |
| 1992 | 0.6% | -0.6% |
| 1993 | 0.6% | -0.6% |
| 1994 | 0.6% | -0.6% |
| 1995 | 0.6% | -0.6% |
| 1996 | 0.6% | -0.6% |
| 1997 | 0.5% | -0.5% |
| 1998 | 0.5% | -0.5% |
| 1999 | 0.5% | -0.5% |
| 2000 | 0.5% | -0.5% |
| 2001 | 0.3% | -48.0% |
| 2002 | 0.3% | -0.3% |
| 2003 | 0.3% | -0.3% |
| 2004 | 0.3% | -0.3% |
| 2005 | 0.3% | -0.3% |
| 2006 | 0.3% | -0.3% |
| 2007 | 0.3% | -0.3% |
| 2008 | 0.3% | -0.3% |
| 2009 | 0.3% | -0.3% |
| 2010 | 0.3% | -0.3% |
| 2011 | 0.4% | +39.3% |
| 2012 | 0.4% | -0.4% |
| 2013 | 0.4% | -0.4% |
| 2014 | 0.4% | -0.4% |
| 2015 | 0.4% | -0.4% |
| 2016 | 0.4% | +10.7% |
| 2017 | 0.4% | -0.4% |
| 2018 | 0.4% | -0.4% |
| 2019 | 0.4% | -0.4% |
| 2020 | 0.4% | -0.4% |
| 2021 | 0.1% | -71.0% |
| 2022 | 0.1% | -0.1% |
| 2023 | 0.1% | -0.1% |
| 2024 | 0.1% | -0.1% |
| 2025 | 0.1% | -0.1% |
India compared with similar countries
- India's 0.1% is above the median for lower middle income countries, which is -0.0%. (47 countries reporting)
- India's 0.1% is above the median for South Asia, which is -0.0%. (6 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Annual change in forest area vs. GDP per capita in India changed far more than this series normally does. A large move can be a real event or a change in how the figure was measured — the source note below says who published it.
| Year | Change | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | -71.0% | 0.4% | 0.1% |
| 2001 | -48.0% | 0.5% | 0.3% |
| 2011 | +39.3% | 0.3% | 0.4% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | 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
- 53 Lithuania 0.1% compare
- 54 El Salvador 0.1% compare
- 55 Netherlands 0.1% compare
- 57 Costa Rica 0.1% compare
- 58 United Arab Emirates 0.1% compare
- 59 Russia 0.1% compare
More environment data for India
- Historical exposure to drought — Land soil moisture anomaly 11.05 Percentage change (2025)
- Historical exposure to drought — Cropland soil moisture anomaly 12.52 Percentage change (2025)
- Standard Deviation, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Standard Deviation 0.254 °C (2025)
- Temperature change 0.954 °C (2025)
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF (Mt CO2e), annual 3.92 % 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 1.12 % 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 vs. gdp per capita in India?
- Annual change in forest area vs. gdp per capita 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 vs. gdp per capita recorded in India?
- The highest recorded value was 0.6% in 1991.
- What is the lowest annual change in forest area vs. gdp per capita recorded in India?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.1% in 2025.
- How does India rank for annual change in forest area vs. gdp per capita?
- India ranks 56th out of 227 countries with data for 2025.
- Is annual change in forest area vs. gdp per capita 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 vs. GDP per capita. 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.