Forest area in Madagascar
Madagascar: Forest area was 9.92 million hectares in 2025. ▼ Falling
Forest area in Madagascar, 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 Madagascar stood at 9.92 million hectares. That is the lowest value across all 36 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is down 1.2% on the previous year and down 11.0% over ten years.
Over the whole period, forest area in Madagascar peaked at 13.68 million hectares in 1990 and was at its lowest, 9.92 million hectares, in 2025.
That places Madagascar 54th out of 235 countries with data for 2025, putting it in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 36 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 13.38 million hectares | 13.08 million hectares | 13.68 million hectares | 10 |
| 2000s | 12.53 million hectares | 12.05 million hectares | 13.01 million hectares | 10 |
| 2010s | 11.27 million hectares | 10.66 million hectares | 11.95 million hectares | 10 |
| 2020s | 10.23 million hectares | 9.92 million hectares | 10.54 million hectares | 6 |
Countries ranked near Madagascar
More environment data for Madagascar
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF 35.79 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF per capita 1.12 t CO2e/capita (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Agriculture 17.89 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Building (Energy) 1.74 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Fugitive Emissions (Energy) 3.06 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Industrial Combustion (Energy) 0.0204 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions (total) excluding LULUCF 25.4 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Power Industry (Energy) 0.0018 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Transport (Energy) 0.0078 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Waste 2.67 Mt CO2e (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is forest area in Madagascar?
- Forest area in Madagascar was 9.92 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 Madagascar?
- The highest recorded value was 13.68 million hectares in 1990.
- What is the lowest forest area recorded in Madagascar?
- The lowest recorded value was 9.92 million hectares in 2025.
- How does Madagascar rank for forest area?
- Madagascar ranks 54th out of 235 countries with data for 2025.
- Is forest area rising or falling in Madagascar?
- Over the last ten years it is down 11.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Madagascar 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.