Forest area in Brazil
Brazil: Forest area was 486.09 million hectares in 2025. ▼ Falling
Forest area in Brazil, 1990–2025
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 Brazil is 486.09 million hectares, measured in 2025. That is the lowest value across all 36 years on record.
That represents a change of down 0.7% on the previous year and down 5.7% over ten years.
Over the whole period, forest area in Brazil peaked at 618.44 million hectares in 1990 and was at its lowest, 486.09 million hectares, in 2025.
Brazil ranks 2nd of 235 countries on this measure, in the top 10%.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 36 years of available data.
Forest area in Brazil, year by year
| Year | hectares | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1990 | 618.44 million hectares | — |
| 1991 | 612.67 million hectares | -0.9% |
| 1992 | 606.90 million hectares | -0.9% |
| 1993 | 601.13 million hectares | -1.0% |
| 1994 | 595.35 million hectares | -1.0% |
| 1995 | 589.58 million hectares | -1.0% |
| 1996 | 583.81 million hectares | -1.0% |
| 1997 | 578.04 million hectares | -1.0% |
| 1998 | 572.26 million hectares | -1.0% |
| 1999 | 566.49 million hectares | -1.0% |
| 2000 | 560.72 million hectares | -1.0% |
| 2001 | 557.16 million hectares | -0.6% |
| 2002 | 553.59 million hectares | -0.6% |
| 2003 | 550.03 million hectares | -0.6% |
| 2004 | 546.47 million hectares | -0.6% |
| 2005 | 542.90 million hectares | -0.7% |
| 2006 | 539.34 million hectares | -0.7% |
| 2007 | 535.78 million hectares | -0.7% |
| 2008 | 532.21 million hectares | -0.7% |
| 2009 | 528.65 million hectares | -0.7% |
| 2010 | 525.09 million hectares | -0.7% |
| 2011 | 523.17 million hectares | -0.4% |
| 2012 | 521.26 million hectares | -0.4% |
| 2013 | 519.34 million hectares | -0.4% |
| 2014 | 517.42 million hectares | -0.4% |
| 2015 | 515.51 million hectares | -0.4% |
| 2016 | 512.88 million hectares | -0.5% |
| 2017 | 510.25 million hectares | -0.5% |
| 2018 | 507.62 million hectares | -0.5% |
| 2019 | 505.00 million hectares | -0.5% |
| 2020 | 502.37 million hectares | -0.5% |
| 2021 | 499.11 million hectares | -0.6% |
| 2022 | 495.86 million hectares | -0.7% |
| 2023 | 492.60 million hectares | -0.7% |
| 2024 | 489.34 million hectares | -0.7% |
| 2025 | 486.09 million hectares | -0.7% |
Brazil compared with similar countries
- Brazil's 486.09 million hectares is above the median for upper middle income countries, which is 2.29 million hectares, 211.9× the median. (58 countries reporting)
- Brazil's 486.09 million hectares is above the median for Latin America & Caribbean, which is 999,945 hectares, 486.1× the median. (42 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 592.47 million hectares | 566.49 million hectares | 618.44 million hectares | 10 |
| 2000s | 544.69 million hectares | 528.65 million hectares | 560.72 million hectares | 10 |
| 2010s | 515.75 million hectares | 505.00 million hectares | 525.09 million hectares | 10 |
| 2020s | 494.23 million hectares | 486.09 million hectares | 502.37 million hectares | 6 |
Countries ranked near Brazil
More environment data for Brazil
- Historical exposure to drought — Land soil moisture anomaly -6.93 Percentage change (2025)
- Historical exposure to drought — Cropland soil moisture anomaly -8.24 Percentage change (2025)
- Standard Deviation, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Standard Deviation 0.221 °C (2025)
- Temperature change 1.36 °C (2025)
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF (Mt CO2e), annual 0.155 % 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 -2.73 % 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 forest area in Brazil?
- Forest area in Brazil was 486.09 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 Brazil?
- The highest recorded value was 618.44 million hectares in 1990.
- What is the lowest forest area recorded in Brazil?
- The lowest recorded value was 486.09 million hectares in 2025.
- How does Brazil rank for forest area?
- Brazil ranks 2nd out of 235 countries with data for 2025.
- Is forest area rising or falling in Brazil?
- Over the last ten years it is down 5.7%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Brazil 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
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.