Share of land covered by forest in Eritrea
Eritrea: Share of land covered by forest was 11.9% in 2025. ▼ Falling
Share of land covered by forest in Eritrea, 1990–2025
Source: Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (2013) and other sources – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in %.
Analysis
Eritrea recorded 11.9% for share of land covered by forest in 2025. That is the lowest value across all 36 years on record.
That represents a change of down 0.4% on the previous year and down 4.0% over ten years.
Over the whole period, share of land covered by forest in Eritrea peaked at 13.6% in 1990 and was at its lowest, 11.9%, in 2025.
That places Eritrea 158th out of 216 countries with data for 2025, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 36 years of available data.
Share of land covered by forest in Eritrea, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1990 | 13.6% | — |
| 1991 | 13.6% | -0.4% |
| 1992 | 13.5% | -0.4% |
| 1993 | 13.5% | -0.4% |
| 1994 | 13.4% | -0.4% |
| 1995 | 13.4% | -0.4% |
| 1996 | 13.3% | -0.4% |
| 1997 | 13.3% | -0.4% |
| 1998 | 13.2% | -0.4% |
| 1999 | 13.2% | -0.4% |
| 2000 | 13.1% | -0.4% |
| 2001 | 13.1% | -0.4% |
| 2002 | 13.0% | -0.4% |
| 2003 | 13.0% | -0.4% |
| 2004 | 12.9% | -0.4% |
| 2005 | 12.9% | -0.4% |
| 2006 | 12.8% | -0.4% |
| 2007 | 12.8% | -0.4% |
| 2008 | 12.7% | -0.4% |
| 2009 | 12.7% | -0.4% |
| 2010 | 12.6% | -0.4% |
| 2011 | 12.6% | -0.4% |
| 2012 | 12.5% | -0.4% |
| 2013 | 12.5% | -0.4% |
| 2014 | 12.4% | -0.4% |
| 2015 | 12.4% | -0.4% |
| 2016 | 12.3% | -0.4% |
| 2017 | 12.3% | -0.4% |
| 2018 | 12.2% | -0.4% |
| 2019 | 12.2% | -0.4% |
| 2020 | 12.1% | -0.4% |
| 2021 | 12.1% | -0.4% |
| 2022 | 12.0% | -0.4% |
| 2023 | 12.0% | -0.4% |
| 2024 | 11.9% | -0.4% |
| 2025 | 11.9% | -0.4% |
Eritrea compared with similar countries
- Eritrea's 11.9% is above the median for low income countries, which is 11.9%, 1.0× the median. (25 countries reporting)
- Eritrea's 11.9% is below the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 22.0%, 54% of the median. (48 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 13.4% | 13.2% | 13.6% | 10 |
| 2000s | 12.9% | 12.7% | 13.1% | 10 |
| 2010s | 12.4% | 12.2% | 12.6% | 10 |
| 2020s | 12.0% | 11.9% | 12.1% | 6 |
Countries ranked near Eritrea
More environment data for Eritrea
- Historical exposure to drought — Land soil moisture anomaly -12.24 Percentage change (2025)
- Historical exposure to drought — Cropland soil moisture anomaly -10.14 Percentage change (2025)
- Standard Deviation, annual growth rate 57.1 % change on previous year (2023)
- Standard Deviation 0.531 °C (2023)
- Temperature change 0.012 °C (2023)
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF (Mt CO2e), annual 0.6471 % change on previous year (2024)
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF (Mt CO2e), per unit 0 Mt CO2e per US$ of GDP (2011)
- 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 0.3665 % change on previous year (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Agriculture (Mt CO2e), per unit of GDP 0 Mt CO2e per US$ of GDP (2011)
Frequently asked questions
- What is share of land covered by forest in Eritrea?
- Share of land covered by forest in Eritrea was 11.9% in 2025, according to Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (2013) and other sources – with major processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest share of land covered by forest recorded in Eritrea?
- The highest recorded value was 13.6% in 1990.
- What is the lowest share of land covered by forest recorded in Eritrea?
- The lowest recorded value was 11.9% in 2025.
- How does Eritrea rank for share of land covered by forest?
- Eritrea ranks 158th out of 216 countries with data for 2025.
- Is share of land covered by forest rising or falling in Eritrea?
- Over the last ten years it is down 4.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Eritrea data come from?
- The figures come from Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (2013) and other sources – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Share of land covered by forest. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 36 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Share of land area covered by forest, including both natural forests and forest plantations.