Forest area in Ethiopia
Ethiopia: Forest area was 26.75 million hectares in 2025. ▼ Falling
Latest (2025)
26.75 million hectares
Change on year
down 0.0%
World rank
24th
of 235 countries
All-time high
28.54 million hectares
in 1990
All-time low
26.75 million hectares
in 2025
Years of data
36
1990–2025
Forest area in Ethiopia, 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 Ethiopia stood at 26.75 million hectares. That is the lowest value across all 36 years on record.
The figure is down 0.1% over ten years.
Over the whole period, forest area in Ethiopia peaked at 28.54 million hectares in 1990 and was at its lowest, 26.75 million hectares, in 2025.
Ethiopia ranks 24th 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 Ethiopia, year by year
| Year | hectares | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1990 | 28.54 million hectares | — |
| 1991 | 28.46 million hectares | -0.3% |
| 1992 | 28.39 million hectares | -0.3% |
| 1993 | 28.32 million hectares | -0.3% |
| 1994 | 28.25 million hectares | -0.3% |
| 1995 | 28.17 million hectares | -0.3% |
| 1996 | 28.10 million hectares | -0.3% |
| 1997 | 28.03 million hectares | -0.3% |
| 1998 | 27.95 million hectares | -0.3% |
| 1999 | 27.88 million hectares | -0.3% |
| 2000 | 27.81 million hectares | -0.3% |
| 2001 | 27.74 million hectares | -0.3% |
| 2002 | 27.66 million hectares | -0.3% |
| 2003 | 27.59 million hectares | -0.3% |
| 2004 | 27.52 million hectares | -0.3% |
| 2005 | 27.45 million hectares | -0.3% |
| 2006 | 27.37 million hectares | -0.3% |
| 2007 | 27.30 million hectares | -0.3% |
| 2008 | 27.23 million hectares | -0.3% |
| 2009 | 27.15 million hectares | -0.3% |
| 2010 | 27.08 million hectares | -0.3% |
| 2011 | 27.02 million hectares | -0.2% |
| 2012 | 26.96 million hectares | -0.2% |
| 2013 | 26.90 million hectares | -0.2% |
| 2014 | 26.85 million hectares | -0.2% |
| 2015 | 26.79 million hectares | -0.2% |
| 2016 | 26.78 million hectares | -0.0% |
| 2017 | 26.78 million hectares | -0.0% |
| 2018 | 26.77 million hectares | -0.0% |
| 2019 | 26.77 million hectares | -0.0% |
| 2020 | 26.77 million hectares | -0.0% |
| 2021 | 26.76 million hectares | -0.0% |
| 2022 | 26.76 million hectares | -0.0% |
| 2023 | 26.75 million hectares | -0.0% |
| 2024 | 26.75 million hectares | -0.0% |
| 2025 | 26.75 million hectares | -0.0% |
Ethiopia compared with similar countries
- Ethiopia's 26.75 million hectares is above the median for low income countries, which is 3.24 million hectares, 8.3× the median. (25 countries reporting)
- Ethiopia's 26.75 million hectares is above the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 4.37 million hectares, 6.1× the median. (48 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 28.21 million hectares | 27.88 million hectares | 28.54 million hectares | 10 |
| 2000s | 27.48 million hectares | 27.15 million hectares | 27.81 million hectares | 10 |
| 2010s | 26.87 million hectares | 26.77 million hectares | 27.08 million hectares | 10 |
| 2020s | 26.76 million hectares | 26.75 million hectares | 26.77 million hectares | 6 |
Countries ranked near Ethiopia
More environment data for Ethiopia
- Standard Deviation, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Standard Deviation 0.272 °C (2025)
- Temperature change 1.39 °C (2025)
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF (Mt CO2e), annual 2.26 % 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 2.83 % change on previous year (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Agriculture (Mt CO2e), per unit of GDP 0 Mt CO2e per US$ of GDP (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Agriculture (Mt CO2e), per capita 0 Mt CO2e per person (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Building (Energy) (Mt CO2e), annual 0.1478 % change on previous year (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is forest area in Ethiopia?
- Forest area in Ethiopia was 26.75 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 Ethiopia?
- The highest recorded value was 28.54 million hectares in 1990.
- What is the lowest forest area recorded in Ethiopia?
- The lowest recorded value was 26.75 million hectares in 2025.
- How does Ethiopia rank for forest area?
- Ethiopia ranks 24th out of 235 countries with data for 2025.
- Is forest area rising or falling in Ethiopia?
- Over the last ten years it is down 0.1%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Ethiopia 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.