Forest area in Botswana

Botswana: Forest area was 15.73 million hectares in 2025. ▬ Flat

Latest (2025)
15.73 million hectares
Change on year
unchanged
World rank
40th
of 235 countries
All-time high
15.73 million hectares
in 2020
All-time low
15.73 million hectares
in 1990
Years of data
36
1990–2025

Forest area in Botswana, 1990–2025

05.0M10.0M15.0M1990200720251990: 15.7M hectares1991: 15.7M hectares1992: 15.7M hectares1993: 15.7M hectares1994: 15.7M hectares1995: 15.7M hectares1996: 15.7M hectares1997: 15.7M hectares1998: 15.7M hectares1999: 15.7M hectares2000: 15.7M hectares2001: 15.7M hectares2002: 15.7M hectares2003: 15.7M hectares2004: 15.7M hectares2005: 15.7M hectares2006: 15.7M hectares2007: 15.7M hectares2008: 15.7M hectares2009: 15.7M hectares2010: 15.7M hectares2011: 15.7M hectares2012: 15.7M hectares2013: 15.7M hectares2014: 15.7M hectares2015: 15.7M hectares2016: 15.7M hectares2017: 15.7M hectares2018: 15.7M hectares2019: 15.7M hectares2020: 15.7M hectares2021: 15.7M hectares2022: 15.7M hectares2023: 15.7M hectares2024: 15.7M hectares2025: 15.7M hectares

Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in hectares.

Analysis

The most recent figure for forest area in Botswana is 15.73 million hectares, measured in 2025. That is the highest value across all 36 years on record.

Compared with earlier readings it is up 0.0% over ten years.

Over the whole period, forest area in Botswana peaked at 15.73 million hectares in 2020 and was at its lowest, 15.73 million hectares, in 1990.

That places Botswana 40th out of 235 countries with data for 2025, putting it in the top quarter.

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1990s 15.73 million hectares 15.73 million hectares 15.73 million hectares 10
2000s 15.73 million hectares 15.73 million hectares 15.73 million hectares 10
2010s 15.73 million hectares 15.73 million hectares 15.73 million hectares 10
2020s 15.73 million hectares 15.73 million hectares 15.73 million hectares 6

Countries ranked near Botswana

  1. 37 Chile 18.16 million hectares compare
  2. 38 France 17.80 million hectares compare
  3. 39 Nigeria 17.13 million hectares compare
  4. 41 Vietnam 14.79 million hectares compare
  5. 42 Suriname 14.67 million hectares compare
  6. 43 Paraguay 14.30 million hectares compare

See the full ranking of 235 places →

More environment data for Botswana

All data for Botswana →

Frequently asked questions

What is forest area in Botswana?
Forest area in Botswana was 15.73 million hectares in 2025, according to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data.
What is the highest forest area recorded in Botswana?
The highest recorded value was 15.73 million hectares in 2020.
What is the lowest forest area recorded in Botswana?
The lowest recorded value was 15.73 million hectares in 1990.
How does Botswana rank for forest area?
Botswana ranks 40th out of 235 countries with data for 2025.
Is forest area rising or falling in Botswana?
Over the last ten years it is up 0.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is flat.
Where does this Botswana 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 Forest area. 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

Indicator
Forest area
Unit
hectares
Source
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
235 places, 8,460 data points, 1990–2025
Last refreshed

Forest area is land under natural or planted stands of trees of at least 5 meters in situ, whether productive or not, and excludes tree stands in agricultural production systems.