Forest area in Namibia
Namibia: Forest area was 8.04 million hectares in 2025. ▼ Falling
Forest area in Namibia, 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 Namibia stood at 8.04 million hectares. That is the lowest value across all 36 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is down 0.1% over ten years.
Over the whole period, forest area in Namibia peaked at 8.77 million hectares in 1990 and was at its lowest, 8.04 million hectares, in 2025.
That places Namibia 59th 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 | 8.45 million hectares | 8.13 million hectares | 8.77 million hectares | 10 |
| 2000s | 8.06 million hectares | 8.05 million hectares | 8.06 million hectares | 10 |
| 2010s | 8.05 million hectares | 8.05 million hectares | 8.05 million hectares | 10 |
| 2020s | 8.04 million hectares | 8.04 million hectares | 8.05 million hectares | 6 |
Countries ranked near Namibia
- 56 Italy 9.42 million hectares compare
- 57 Belarus 8.98 million hectares compare
- 58 Senegal 8.65 million hectares compare
- 60 French Guiana 7.98 million hectares compare
- 61 North Korea 7.73 million hectares compare
- 62 Philippines 7.44 million hectares compare
More environment data for Namibia
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF 14.21 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF per capita 4.69 t CO2e/capita (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Agriculture 6.32 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Building (Energy) 0.0309 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Fugitive Emissions (Energy) 1.1 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Industrial Combustion (Energy) 0.0028 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions (total) excluding LULUCF 7.82 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Power Industry (Energy) 0 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Transport (Energy) 0.0121 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Waste 0.3565 Mt CO2e (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is forest area in Namibia?
- Forest area in Namibia was 8.04 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 Namibia?
- The highest recorded value was 8.77 million hectares in 1990.
- What is the lowest forest area recorded in Namibia?
- The lowest recorded value was 8.04 million hectares in 2025.
- How does Namibia rank for forest area?
- Namibia ranks 59th out of 235 countries with data for 2025.
- Is forest area rising or falling in Namibia?
- Over the last ten years it is down 0.1%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Namibia 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.