Forest area in Japan

Japan: Forest area was 24.91 million hectares in 2025. ▬ Flat

Latest (2025)
24.91 million hectares
Change on year
down 0.0%
World rank
25th
of 235 countries
All-time high
24.97 million hectares
in 2010
All-time low
24.88 million hectares
in 2000
Years of data
36
1990–2025

Forest area in Japan, 1990–2025

05.0M10.0M15.0M20.0M25.0M1990200720251990: 24.9M hectares1991: 24.9M hectares1992: 24.9M hectares1993: 24.9M hectares1994: 24.9M hectares1995: 24.9M hectares1996: 24.9M hectares1997: 24.9M hectares1998: 24.9M hectares1999: 24.9M hectares2000: 24.9M hectares2001: 24.9M hectares2002: 24.9M hectares2003: 24.9M hectares2004: 24.9M hectares2005: 24.9M hectares2006: 24.9M hectares2007: 24.9M hectares2008: 24.9M hectares2009: 25.0M hectares2010: 25.0M hectares2011: 25.0M hectares2012: 25.0M hectares2013: 25.0M hectares2014: 24.9M hectares2015: 24.9M hectares2016: 24.9M hectares2017: 24.9M hectares2018: 24.9M hectares2019: 24.9M hectares2020: 24.9M hectares2021: 24.9M hectares2022: 24.9M hectares2023: 24.9M hectares2024: 24.9M hectares2025: 24.9M hectares

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 Japan stood at 24.91 million hectares.

The figure is down 0.1% over ten years.

Over the whole period, forest area in Japan peaked at 24.97 million hectares in 2010 and was at its lowest, 24.88 million hectares, in 2000.

That places Japan 25th out of 235 countries with data for 2025, putting it in the top quarter.

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1990s 24.92 million hectares 24.88 million hectares 24.95 million hectares 10
2000s 24.92 million hectares 24.88 million hectares 24.96 million hectares 10
2010s 24.95 million hectares 24.92 million hectares 24.97 million hectares 10
2020s 24.91 million hectares 24.91 million hectares 24.92 million hectares 6

Countries ranked near Japan

  1. 22 Sweden 27.93 million hectares compare
  2. 23 Myanmar 27.10 million hectares compare
  3. 24 Ethiopia 26.75 million hectares compare
  4. 26 Gabon 23.56 million hectares compare
  5. 27 South Africa 22.88 million hectares compare
  6. 28 Turkey 22.81 million hectares compare

See the full ranking of 235 places →

More environment data for Japan

All data for Japan →

Frequently asked questions

What is forest area in Japan?
Forest area in Japan was 24.91 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 Japan?
The highest recorded value was 24.97 million hectares in 2010.
What is the lowest forest area recorded in Japan?
The lowest recorded value was 24.88 million hectares in 2000.
How does Japan rank for forest area?
Japan ranks 25th out of 235 countries with data for 2025.
Is forest area rising or falling in Japan?
Over the last ten years it is down 0.1%. The long-run trend across the full record is flat.
Where does this Japan 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

Indicator
Forest area
Unit
hectares
Source
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
235 places, 8,460 data points, 1990–2025
Last refreshed

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.