Drivers of deforestation in Papua New Guinea

Papua New Guinea: Drivers of deforestation was 4,645 hectares in 2023. ▼ Falling

Latest (2023)
4,645 hectares
Change on year
down 9.9%
World rank
33rd
of 166 countries
All-time high
9,766 hectares
in 2014
All-time low
2,401 hectares
in 2010
Years of data
23
2001–2023

Drivers of deforestation in Papua New Guinea, 2001–2023

2.0k4.0k6.0k8.0k10.0k2001201220232001: 4.9k hectares2002: 7.6k hectares2003: 4.5k hectares2004: 4.8k hectares2005: 2.7k hectares2006: 4.8k hectares2007: 4.8k hectares2008: 8.1k hectares2009: 5.6k hectares2010: 2.4k hectares2011: 3.0k hectares2012: 8.2k hectares2013: 6.6k hectares2014: 9.8k hectares2015: 4.9k hectares2016: 5.7k hectares2017: 2.8k hectares2018: 2.9k hectares2019: 3.5k hectares2020: 4.2k hectares2021: 4.6k hectares2022: 5.2k hectares2023: 4.6k hectares

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

Analysis

The most recent figure for drivers of deforestation in Papua New Guinea is 4,645 hectares, measured in 2023.

The figure is down 9.9% on the previous year and down 29.8% over ten years.

Over the whole period, drivers of deforestation in Papua New Guinea peaked at 9,766 hectares in 2014 and was at its lowest, 2,401 hectares, in 2010.

That places Papua New Guinea 33rd out of 166 countries with data for 2023, putting it in the top quarter.

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

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
2000s 5,308 hectares 2,677 hectares 8,085 hectares 9
2010s 4,982 hectares 2,401 hectares 9,766 hectares 10
2020s 4,645 hectares 4,170 hectares 5,156 hectares 4

Countries ranked near Papua New Guinea

  1. 30 Philippines 5,059 hectares compare
  2. 31 Ecuador 4,810 hectares compare
  3. 32 Uganda 4,678 hectares compare
  4. 34 Congo 4,496 hectares compare
  5. 35 Australia 4,457 hectares compare
  6. 36 Ethiopia 3,549 hectares compare

See the full ranking of 166 places →

More environment data for Papua New Guinea

All data for Papua New Guinea →

Frequently asked questions

What is drivers of deforestation in Papua New Guinea?
Drivers of deforestation in Papua New Guinea was 4,645 hectares in 2023, according to Singh et al. (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
What is the highest drivers of deforestation recorded in Papua New Guinea?
The highest recorded value was 9,766 hectares in 2014.
What is the lowest drivers of deforestation recorded in Papua New Guinea?
The lowest recorded value was 2,401 hectares in 2010.
How does Papua New Guinea rank for drivers of deforestation?
Papua New Guinea ranks 33rd out of 166 countries with data for 2023.
Is drivers of deforestation rising or falling in Papua New Guinea?
Over the last ten years it is down 29.8%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
Where does this Papua New Guinea 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.