Forest area in United Kingdom
United Kingdom: Forest area was 3.28 million hectares in 2025. ▲ Rising
Forest area in United Kingdom, 1990–2025
Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in hectares.
Analysis
United Kingdom recorded 3.28 million hectares for forest area in 2025. That is the highest value across all 36 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is up 0.4% on the previous year and up 3.9% over ten years.
Over the whole period, forest area in United Kingdom peaked at 3.28 million hectares in 2025 and was at its lowest, 2.78 million hectares, in 1990.
That places United Kingdom 89th out of 235 countries with data for 2025, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 36 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 2.86 million hectares | 2.78 million hectares | 2.94 million hectares | 10 |
| 2000s | 3.00 million hectares | 2.95 million hectares | 3.05 million hectares | 10 |
| 2010s | 3.14 million hectares | 3.06 million hectares | 3.20 million hectares | 10 |
| 2020s | 3.25 million hectares | 3.21 million hectares | 3.28 million hectares | 6 |
Countries ranked near United Kingdom
More environment data for United Kingdom
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF 386.7 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF per capita 5.58 t CO2e/capita (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Agriculture 31.55 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Building (Energy) 0.7351 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Fugitive Emissions (Energy) 3.35 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Industrial Combustion (Energy) 0.078 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions (total) excluding LULUCF 58.88 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Power Industry (Energy) 0.3113 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Transport (Energy) 0.1931 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Waste 22.62 Mt CO2e (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is forest area in United Kingdom?
- Forest area in United Kingdom was 3.28 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 United Kingdom?
- The highest recorded value was 3.28 million hectares in 2025.
- What is the lowest forest area recorded in United Kingdom?
- The lowest recorded value was 2.78 million hectares in 1990.
- How does United Kingdom rank for forest area?
- United Kingdom ranks 89th out of 235 countries with data for 2025.
- Is forest area rising or falling in United Kingdom?
- Over the last ten years it is up 3.9%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this United Kingdom 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.