Forest area in France
France: Forest area was 17.80 million hectares in 2025. ▲ Rising
Latest (2025)
17.80 million hectares
Change on year
up 0.5%
World rank
38th
of 235 countries
All-time high
17.80 million hectares
in 2025
All-time low
14.44 million hectares
in 1990
Years of data
36
1990–2025
Forest area in France, 1990–2025
Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in hectares.
Analysis
France recorded 17.80 million hectares for forest area in 2025. That is the highest value across all 36 years on record.
The figure is up 0.5% on the previous year and up 5.7% over ten years.
Over the whole period, forest area in France peaked at 17.80 million hectares in 2025 and was at its lowest, 14.44 million hectares, in 1990.
That places France 38th out of 235 countries with data for 2025, putting it in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 36 years of available data.
Forest area in France, year by year
| Year | hectares | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1990 | 14.44 million hectares | — |
| 1991 | 14.52 million hectares | +0.6% |
| 1992 | 14.61 million hectares | +0.6% |
| 1993 | 14.69 million hectares | +0.6% |
| 1994 | 14.78 million hectares | +0.6% |
| 1995 | 14.86 million hectares | +0.6% |
| 1996 | 14.95 million hectares | +0.6% |
| 1997 | 15.03 million hectares | +0.6% |
| 1998 | 15.12 million hectares | +0.6% |
| 1999 | 15.20 million hectares | +0.6% |
| 2000 | 15.29 million hectares | +0.6% |
| 2001 | 15.40 million hectares | +0.7% |
| 2002 | 15.51 million hectares | +0.7% |
| 2003 | 15.63 million hectares | +0.7% |
| 2004 | 15.74 million hectares | +0.7% |
| 2005 | 15.85 million hectares | +0.7% |
| 2006 | 15.97 million hectares | +0.7% |
| 2007 | 16.08 million hectares | +0.7% |
| 2008 | 16.19 million hectares | +0.7% |
| 2009 | 16.31 million hectares | +0.7% |
| 2010 | 16.42 million hectares | +0.7% |
| 2011 | 16.50 million hectares | +0.5% |
| 2012 | 16.59 million hectares | +0.5% |
| 2013 | 16.67 million hectares | +0.5% |
| 2014 | 16.75 million hectares | +0.5% |
| 2015 | 16.84 million hectares | +0.5% |
| 2016 | 16.94 million hectares | +0.6% |
| 2017 | 17.04 million hectares | +0.6% |
| 2018 | 17.14 million hectares | +0.6% |
| 2019 | 17.25 million hectares | +0.6% |
| 2020 | 17.35 million hectares | +0.6% |
| 2021 | 17.44 million hectares | +0.5% |
| 2022 | 17.53 million hectares | +0.5% |
| 2023 | 17.62 million hectares | +0.5% |
| 2024 | 17.71 million hectares | +0.5% |
| 2025 | 17.80 million hectares | +0.5% |
France compared with similar countries
- France's 17.80 million hectares is above the median for high income countries, which is 436,060 hectares, 40.8× the median. (83 countries reporting)
- France's 17.80 million hectares is above the median for Europe & Central Asia, which is 2.12 million hectares, 8.4× the median. (56 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 14.82 million hectares | 14.44 million hectares | 15.20 million hectares | 10 |
| 2000s | 15.80 million hectares | 15.29 million hectares | 16.31 million hectares | 10 |
| 2010s | 16.81 million hectares | 16.42 million hectares | 17.25 million hectares | 10 |
| 2020s | 17.57 million hectares | 17.35 million hectares | 17.80 million hectares | 6 |
Countries ranked near France
More environment data for France
- Historical exposure to drought — Land soil moisture anomaly -2.44 Percentage change (2025)
- Historical exposure to drought — Cropland soil moisture anomaly -3.44 Percentage change (2025)
- Standard Deviation, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Standard Deviation 0.427 °C (2025)
- Temperature change 2.31 °C (2025)
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF (Mt CO2e), annual -3.23 % 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 -0.1777 % 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 France?
- Forest area in France was 17.80 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 France?
- The highest recorded value was 17.80 million hectares in 2025.
- What is the lowest forest area recorded in France?
- The lowest recorded value was 14.44 million hectares in 1990.
- How does France rank for forest area?
- France ranks 38th out of 235 countries with data for 2025.
- Is forest area rising or falling in France?
- Over the last ten years it is up 5.7%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this France 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.