Forest area in New Zealand
New Zealand: Forest area was 10.30 million hectares in 2025. ▲ Rising
Forest area in New Zealand, 1990–2025
Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in hectares.
Analysis
The most recent figure for forest area in New Zealand is 10.30 million hectares, measured in 2025. That is the highest value across all 36 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is up 0.7% on the previous year and up 4.6% over ten years.
Over the whole period, forest area in New Zealand peaked at 10.30 million hectares in 2025 and was at its lowest, 9.37 million hectares, in 1990.
New Zealand ranks 52nd of 235 countries on this measure, in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 36 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 9.59 million hectares | 9.37 million hectares | 9.80 million hectares | 10 |
| 2000s | 9.85 million hectares | 9.85 million hectares | 9.85 million hectares | 10 |
| 2010s | 9.87 million hectares | 9.85 million hectares | 9.94 million hectares | 10 |
| 2020s | 10.13 million hectares | 9.97 million hectares | 10.30 million hectares | 6 |
Countries ranked near New Zealand
More environment data for New Zealand
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF 77.84 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF per capita 14.71 t CO2e/capita (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Agriculture 29.69 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Building (Energy) 0.0763 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Fugitive Emissions (Energy) 0.671 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Industrial Combustion (Energy) 0.0207 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions (total) excluding LULUCF 34.4 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Power Industry (Energy) 0.0183 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Transport (Energy) 0.0794 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Waste 3.78 Mt CO2e (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is forest area in New Zealand?
- Forest area in New Zealand was 10.30 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 New Zealand?
- The highest recorded value was 10.30 million hectares in 2025.
- What is the lowest forest area recorded in New Zealand?
- The lowest recorded value was 9.37 million hectares in 1990.
- How does New Zealand rank for forest area?
- New Zealand ranks 52nd out of 235 countries with data for 2025.
- Is forest area rising or falling in New Zealand?
- Over the last ten years it is up 4.6%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this New Zealand 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.