Forest area in China
China: Forest area was 227.15 million hectares in 2025. ▲ Rising
Forest area in China, 1990–2025
Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in hectares.
Analysis
China recorded 227.15 million hectares for forest area in 2025. That is the highest value across all 36 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is up 0.7% on the previous year and up 8.0% over ten years.
Over the whole period, forest area in China peaked at 227.15 million hectares in 2025 and was at its lowest, 157.14 million hectares, in 1990.
That places China 5th out of 235 countries with data for 2025, putting it in the top 10%.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 36 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 166.08 million hectares | 157.14 million hectares | 175.01 million hectares | 10 |
| 2000s | 187.62 million hectares | 177.00 million hectares | 198.25 million hectares | 10 |
| 2010s | 209.15 million hectares | 200.61 million hectares | 217.34 million hectares | 10 |
| 2020s | 223.13 million hectares | 219.10 million hectares | 227.15 million hectares | 6 |
Countries ranked near China
More environment data for China
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF 15,536 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF per capita 11.03 t CO2e/capita (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Agriculture 498.98 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Building (Energy) 32.75 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Fugitive Emissions (Energy) 736.76 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Industrial Combustion (Energy) 3.9 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions (total) excluding LULUCF 1,485 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Power Industry (Energy) 4.13 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Transport (Energy) 5.54 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Waste 195.67 Mt CO2e (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is forest area in China?
- Forest area in China was 227.15 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 China?
- The highest recorded value was 227.15 million hectares in 2025.
- What is the lowest forest area recorded in China?
- The lowest recorded value was 157.14 million hectares in 1990.
- How does China rank for forest area?
- China ranks 5th out of 235 countries with data for 2025.
- Is forest area rising or falling in China?
- Over the last ten years it is up 8.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this China 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.