Forest area in Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea: Forest area was 34.03 million hectares in 2025. ▬ Flat
Latest (2025)
34.03 million hectares
Change on year
down 0.0%
World rank
20th
of 235 countries
All-time high
34.61 million hectares
in 1990
All-time low
34.03 million hectares
in 2025
Years of data
36
1990–2025
Forest area in Papua New Guinea, 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 Papua New Guinea is 34.03 million hectares, measured in 2025. That is the lowest value across all 36 years on record.
That represents a change of down 0.4% over ten years.
Over the whole period, forest area in Papua New Guinea peaked at 34.61 million hectares in 1990 and was at its lowest, 34.03 million hectares, in 2025.
That places Papua New Guinea 20th out of 235 countries with data for 2025, putting it in the top 10%.
Forest area in Papua New Guinea, year by year
| Year | hectares | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1990 | 34.61 million hectares | — |
| 1991 | 34.59 million hectares | -0.1% |
| 1992 | 34.57 million hectares | -0.1% |
| 1993 | 34.55 million hectares | -0.1% |
| 1994 | 34.53 million hectares | -0.1% |
| 1995 | 34.50 million hectares | -0.1% |
| 1996 | 34.48 million hectares | -0.1% |
| 1997 | 34.46 million hectares | -0.1% |
| 1998 | 34.44 million hectares | -0.1% |
| 1999 | 34.42 million hectares | -0.1% |
| 2000 | 34.40 million hectares | -0.1% |
| 2001 | 34.37 million hectares | -0.1% |
| 2002 | 34.35 million hectares | -0.1% |
| 2003 | 34.33 million hectares | -0.1% |
| 2004 | 34.31 million hectares | -0.1% |
| 2005 | 34.29 million hectares | -0.1% |
| 2006 | 34.26 million hectares | -0.1% |
| 2007 | 34.24 million hectares | -0.1% |
| 2008 | 34.22 million hectares | -0.1% |
| 2009 | 34.20 million hectares | -0.1% |
| 2010 | 34.18 million hectares | -0.1% |
| 2011 | 34.17 million hectares | -0.0% |
| 2012 | 34.17 million hectares | -0.0% |
| 2013 | 34.16 million hectares | -0.0% |
| 2014 | 34.16 million hectares | -0.0% |
| 2015 | 34.15 million hectares | -0.0% |
| 2016 | 34.13 million hectares | -0.1% |
| 2017 | 34.11 million hectares | -0.1% |
| 2018 | 34.09 million hectares | -0.1% |
| 2019 | 34.07 million hectares | -0.1% |
| 2020 | 34.05 million hectares | -0.1% |
| 2021 | 34.04 million hectares | -0.0% |
| 2022 | 34.04 million hectares | -0.0% |
| 2023 | 34.04 million hectares | -0.0% |
| 2024 | 34.03 million hectares | -0.0% |
| 2025 | 34.03 million hectares | -0.0% |
Papua New Guinea compared with similar countries
- Papua New Guinea's 34.03 million hectares is above the median for lower middle income countries, which is 3.89 million hectares, 8.7× the median. (47 countries reporting)
- Papua New Guinea's 34.03 million hectares is above the median for East Asia & Pacific, which is 1.14 million hectares, 29.9× the median. (35 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 34.52 million hectares | 34.42 million hectares | 34.61 million hectares | 10 |
| 2000s | 34.30 million hectares | 34.20 million hectares | 34.40 million hectares | 10 |
| 2010s | 34.14 million hectares | 34.07 million hectares | 34.18 million hectares | 10 |
| 2020s | 34.04 million hectares | 34.03 million hectares | 34.05 million hectares | 6 |
Countries ranked near Papua New Guinea
More environment data for Papua New Guinea
- Historical exposure to drought — Land soil moisture anomaly 1.56 Percentage change (2025)
- Historical exposure to drought — Cropland soil moisture anomaly 2.24 Percentage change (2025)
- Standard Deviation, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Standard Deviation 0.183 °C (2025)
- Temperature change 0.834 °C (2025)
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF (Mt CO2e), annual 0.9266 % change on previous year (2024)
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF (Mt CO2e), per unit 0 Mt CO2e per US$ of GDP (2024)
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF (Mt CO2e), per capita 0 Mt CO2e per person (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Agriculture (Mt CO2e), annual growth rate 0.6032 % change on previous year (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Agriculture (Mt CO2e), per unit of GDP 0 Mt CO2e per US$ of GDP (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is forest area in Papua New Guinea?
- Forest area in Papua New Guinea was 34.03 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 Papua New Guinea?
- The highest recorded value was 34.61 million hectares in 1990.
- What is the lowest forest area recorded in Papua New Guinea?
- The lowest recorded value was 34.03 million hectares in 2025.
- How does Papua New Guinea rank for forest area?
- Papua New Guinea ranks 20th out of 235 countries with data for 2025.
- Is forest area rising or falling in Papua New Guinea?
- Over the last ten years it is down 0.4%. The long-run trend across the full record is flat.
- Where does this Papua New Guinea 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.