Forest area in Democratic Republic of Congo
Democratic Republic of Congo: Forest area was 139.19 million hectares in 2025. ▼ Falling
Forest area in Democratic Republic of Congo, 1990–2025
Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in hectares.
Analysis
In 2025, forest area in Democratic Republic of Congo stood at 139.19 million hectares. That is the lowest value across all 36 years on record.
The figure is down 0.2% on the previous year and down 2.0% over ten years.
Over the whole period, forest area in Democratic Republic of Congo peaked at 160.54 million hectares in 1990 and was at its lowest, 139.19 million hectares, in 2025.
Democratic Republic of Congo ranks 6th 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.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 157.50 million hectares | 154.47 million hectares | 160.54 million hectares | 10 |
| 2000s | 150.75 million hectares | 147.72 million hectares | 153.79 million hectares | 10 |
| 2010s | 143.24 million hectares | 140.89 million hectares | 147.04 million hectares | 10 |
| 2020s | 139.90 million hectares | 139.19 million hectares | 140.60 million hectares | 6 |
Countries ranked near Democratic Republic of Congo
More environment data for Democratic Republic of Congo
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF 58.49 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF per capita 0.5353 t CO2e/capita (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Agriculture 3.5 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Building (Energy) 7.67 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Fugitive Emissions (Energy) 17.49 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Industrial Combustion (Energy) 0.0166 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions (total) excluding LULUCF 42.16 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Power Industry (Energy) 0.0035 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Transport (Energy) 0.024 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Waste 13.45 Mt CO2e (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is forest area in Democratic Republic of Congo?
- Forest area in Democratic Republic of Congo was 139.19 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 Democratic Republic of Congo?
- The highest recorded value was 160.54 million hectares in 1990.
- What is the lowest forest area recorded in Democratic Republic of Congo?
- The lowest recorded value was 139.19 million hectares in 2025.
- How does Democratic Republic of Congo rank for forest area?
- Democratic Republic of Congo ranks 6th out of 235 countries with data for 2025.
- Is forest area rising or falling in Democratic Republic of Congo?
- Over the last ten years it is down 2.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Democratic Republic of Congo 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.