Forest area in Ireland
Ireland: Forest area was 832,850 hectares in 2025. ▲ Rising
Forest area in Ireland, 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 Ireland stood at 832,850 hectares. That is the highest value across all 36 years on record.
The figure is up 1.0% on the previous year and up 10.4% over ten years.
Over the whole period, forest area in Ireland peaked at 832,850 hectares in 2025 and was at its lowest, 461,640 hectares, in 1990.
That places Ireland 132nd out of 235 regions with data for 2025, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 36 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 537,564 hectares | 461,640 hectares | 613,488 hectares | 10 |
| 2000s | 670,869 hectares | 630,360 hectares | 711,378 hectares | 10 |
| 2010s | 752,113 hectares | 720,380 hectares | 785,590 hectares | 10 |
| 2020s | 813,085 hectares | 793,320 hectares | 832,850 hectares | 6 |
Countries ranked near Ireland
More environment data for Ireland
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF 59.68 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF per capita 11.06 t CO2e/capita (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Agriculture 15.58 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Building (Energy) 0.0879 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Fugitive Emissions (Energy) 1.23 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Industrial Combustion (Energy) 0.0115 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions (total) excluding LULUCF 18.11 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Power Industry (Energy) 0.0209 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Transport (Energy) 0.0087 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Waste 1.16 Mt CO2e (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is forest area in Ireland?
- Forest area in Ireland was 832,850 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 Ireland?
- The highest recorded value was 832,850 hectares in 2025.
- What is the lowest forest area recorded in Ireland?
- The lowest recorded value was 461,640 hectares in 1990.
- How does Ireland rank for forest area?
- Ireland ranks 132nd out of 235 regions with data for 2025.
- Is forest area rising or falling in Ireland?
- Over the last ten years it is up 10.4%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Ireland 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.