Drivers of deforestation in Nepal

Nepal: Drivers of deforestation was 544.22 hectares in 2023. ▼ Falling

Latest (2023)
544.22 hectares
Change on year
up 72.8%
World rank
58th
of 166 countries
All-time high
1,626 hectares
in 2012
All-time low
196.19 hectares
in 2015
Years of data
23
2001–2023

Drivers of deforestation in Nepal, 2001–2023

05001.0k1.5k2001201220232001: 654.6 hectares2002: 840 hectares2003: 917.2 hectares2004: 1.0k hectares2005: 1.1k hectares2006: 1.4k hectares2007: 1.3k hectares2008: 1.1k hectares2009: 1.4k hectares2010: 972.8 hectares2011: 983.2 hectares2012: 1.6k hectares2013: 529.4 hectares2014: 675.7 hectares2015: 196.2 hectares2016: 259.6 hectares2017: 288 hectares2018: 429.3 hectares2019: 734.9 hectares2020: 951.7 hectares2021: 1.1k hectares2022: 315 hectares2023: 544.2 hectares

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

Analysis

Nepal recorded 544.22 hectares for drivers of deforestation in 2023.

That represents a change of up 72.8% on the previous year and up 2.8% over ten years.

Over the whole period, drivers of deforestation in Nepal peaked at 1,626 hectares in 2012 and was at its lowest, 196.19 hectares, in 2015.

Nepal ranks 58th of 166 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.

The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 23 years of available data.

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
2000s 1,080 hectares 654.6 hectares 1,390 hectares 9
2010s 669.49 hectares 196.19 hectares 1,626 hectares 10
2020s 737.45 hectares 314.98 hectares 1,139 hectares 4

Countries ranked near Nepal

  1. 55 Guinea 622.32 hectares compare
  2. 56 Panama 566.52 hectares compare
  3. 57 Romania 559.24 hectares compare
  4. 59 Zimbabwe 443.69 hectares compare
  5. 60 Suriname 437.05 hectares compare
  6. 61 North Korea 348.77 hectares compare

See the full ranking of 166 places →

More environment data for Nepal

All data for Nepal →

Frequently asked questions

What is drivers of deforestation in Nepal?
Drivers of deforestation in Nepal was 544.22 hectares in 2023, according to Singh et al. (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
What is the highest drivers of deforestation recorded in Nepal?
The highest recorded value was 1,626 hectares in 2012.
What is the lowest drivers of deforestation recorded in Nepal?
The lowest recorded value was 196.19 hectares in 2015.
How does Nepal rank for drivers of deforestation?
Nepal ranks 58th out of 166 countries with data for 2023.
Is drivers of deforestation rising or falling in Nepal?
Over the last ten years it is up 2.8%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
Where does this Nepal data come from?
The figures come from Singh et al. (2026) – processed by Our World in Data, published as part of Drivers of deforestation. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

Download this data

CSV · JSON — 23 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).

About this data

Indicator
Drivers of deforestation
Unit
hectares
Source
Singh et al. (2026) – processed by Our World in Data
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
166 places, 2,829 data points, 2001–2023
Last refreshed

Estimates of commodity-driven deforestation, measured in hectares per year. This includes deforestation caused by the production of agricultural products and forestry, which account for approximately 90% of the world's deforestation.