Deforestation embedded in trade in Democratic Republic of Congo

Democratic Republic of Congo: Deforestation embedded in trade was -333,833 hectares in 2023. ▼ Falling

Latest (2023)
-333,833 hectares
Change on year
down 1.9%
World rank
178th
of 178 countries
All-time high
-14,738 hectares
in 2005
All-time low
-333,833 hectares
in 2023
Years of data
19
2005–2023

Deforestation embedded in trade in Democratic Republic of Congo, 2005–2023

-300.0k-200.0k-100.0k02005201420232005: -14.7k hectares2006: -50.2k hectares2007: -120.1k hectares2008: -155.4k hectares2009: -214.5k hectares2010: -281.9k hectares2011: -276.4k hectares2012: -318.6k hectares2013: -281.2k hectares2014: -268.8k hectares2015: -196.5k hectares2016: -167.0k hectares2017: -186.2k hectares2018: -130.0k hectares2019: -141.1k hectares2020: -120.3k hectares2021: -169.3k hectares2022: -327.7k hectares2023: -333.8k hectares

Source: Singh et al. (2026) – processed by Our World in Data. Measured in hectares.

Analysis

Democratic Republic of Congo recorded -333,833 hectares for deforestation embedded in trade in 2023. That is the lowest value across all 19 years on record.

The figure is down 1.9% on the previous year and down 18.7% over ten years.

Over the whole period, deforestation embedded in trade in Democratic Republic of Congo peaked at -14,738 hectares in 2005 and was at its lowest, -333,833 hectares, in 2023.

Democratic Republic of Congo ranks 178th of 178 countries on this measure, in the bottom quarter.

The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 19 years of available data.

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
2000s -110,984 hectares -214,498 hectares -14,738 hectares 5
2010s -224,768 hectares -318,620 hectares -130,029 hectares 10
2020s -237,782 hectares -333,833 hectares -120,319 hectares 4

Countries ranked near Democratic Republic of Congo

  1. 175 Indonesia -46,017 hectares compare
  2. 176 Cote d'Ivoire -127,209 hectares compare
  3. 177 Brazil -196,178 hectares compare

See the full ranking of 178 places →

More environment data for Democratic Republic of Congo

All data for Democratic Republic of Congo →

Frequently asked questions

What is deforestation embedded in trade in Democratic Republic of Congo?
Deforestation embedded in trade in Democratic Republic of Congo was -333,833 hectares in 2023, according to Singh et al. (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
What is the highest deforestation embedded in trade recorded in Democratic Republic of Congo?
The highest recorded value was -14,738 hectares in 2005.
What is the lowest deforestation embedded in trade recorded in Democratic Republic of Congo?
The lowest recorded value was -333,833 hectares in 2023.
How does Democratic Republic of Congo rank for deforestation embedded in trade?
Democratic Republic of Congo ranks 178th out of 178 countries with data for 2023.
Is deforestation embedded in trade rising or falling in Democratic Republic of Congo?
Over the last ten years it is down 18.7%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
Where does this Democratic Republic of Congo data come from?
The figures come from Singh et al. (2026) – processed by Our World in Data, published as part of Deforestation embedded in trade. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

Download this data

CSV · JSON — 19 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).

About this data

Indicator
Deforestation embedded in trade
Unit
hectares
Source
Singh et al. (2026) – processed by Our World in Data
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
178 places, 3,320 data points, 2005–2023
Last refreshed

Deforestation driven by imported goods minus exported goods from agriculture and forest plantations. Net importers of deforestation are countries who contribute to net deforestation in other countries – the deforestation that they cause in other countries is given as a positive value.