Annual deforestation as a share of forest area in Iraq
Iraq: Annual deforestation as a share of forest area was 0.9% in 2020. ◆ Volatile
Annual deforestation as a share of forest area in Iraq, 1990–2020
Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in %.
Analysis
Iraq recorded 0.9% for annual deforestation as a share of forest area in 2020.
The figure is down 20.0% over ten years.
Over the whole period, annual deforestation as a share of forest area in Iraq peaked at 1.1% in 2010 and was at its lowest, 0.0%, in 1990.
Iraq ranks 20th of 105 countries on this measure, in the top quarter.
Annual deforestation as a share of forest area in Iraq, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1990 | 0.0% | — |
| 2000 | 0.2% | — |
| 2010 | 1.1% | +598.6% |
| 2015 | 0.9% | -23.3% |
| 2020 | 0.9% | +4.4% |
Iraq compared with similar countries
- Iraq's 0.9% is above the median for upper middle income countries, which is 0.2%, 5.8× the median. (24 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 1 |
| 2000s | 0.2% | 0.2% | 0.2% | 1 |
| 2010s | 1.0% | 0.9% | 1.1% | 2 |
| 2020s | 0.9% | 0.9% | 0.9% | 1 |
Countries ranked near Iraq
More environment data for Iraq
- Historical exposure to drought — Land soil moisture anomaly -38.03 Percentage change (2025)
- Historical exposure to drought — Cropland soil moisture anomaly -26.27 Percentage change (2025)
- Standard Deviation, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Standard Deviation 0.549 °C (2025)
- Temperature change 1.99 °C (2025)
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF (Mt CO2e), annual 2 % 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 6.65 % 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 deforestation as a share of forest area in Iraq?
- Annual deforestation as a share of forest area in Iraq was 0.9% in 2020, according to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest annual deforestation as a share of forest area recorded in Iraq?
- The highest recorded value was 1.1% in 2010.
- What is the lowest annual deforestation as a share of forest area recorded in Iraq?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.0% in 1990.
- How does Iraq rank for annual deforestation as a share of forest area?
- Iraq ranks 20th out of 105 countries with data for 2020.
- Is annual deforestation as a share of forest area rising or falling in Iraq?
- Over the last ten years it is down 20.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is volatile.
- Where does this Iraq 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 deforestation as a share of forest area. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 5 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Annual deforestation as share of forest area represents the yearly percentage of forest area lost due to deforestation relative to the total forest area.