Forest land — Area in Democratic Republic of the Congo

Democratic Republic of the Congo: Forest land — Area was 139,189 1000 ha in 2025. ▼ Falling

Latest (2025)
139,189 1000 ha
Change on year
down 0.2%
World rank
10th
of 249 countries
All-time high
160,540 1000 ha
in 1990
All-time low
139,189 1000 ha
in 2025
Years of data
36
1990–2025

Forest land — Area in Democratic Republic of the Congo, 1990–2025

050.0k100.0k150.0k1990200720251990: 160.5k 1000 ha1991: 159.9k 1000 ha1992: 159.2k 1000 ha1993: 158.5k 1000 ha1994: 157.8k 1000 ha1995: 157.2k 1000 ha1996: 156.5k 1000 ha1997: 155.8k 1000 ha1998: 155.1k 1000 ha1999: 154.5k 1000 ha2000: 153.8k 1000 ha2001: 153.1k 1000 ha2002: 152.4k 1000 ha2003: 151.8k 1000 ha2004: 151.1k 1000 ha2005: 150.4k 1000 ha2006: 149.7k 1000 ha2007: 149.1k 1000 ha2008: 148.4k 1000 ha2009: 147.7k 1000 ha2010: 147.0k 1000 ha2011: 146.0k 1000 ha2012: 145.0k 1000 ha2013: 144.0k 1000 ha2014: 143.0k 1000 ha2015: 142.0k 1000 ha2016: 141.7k 1000 ha2017: 141.5k 1000 ha2018: 141.2k 1000 ha2019: 140.9k 1000 ha2020: 140.6k 1000 ha2021: 140.3k 1000 ha2022: 140.0k 1000 ha2023: 139.8k 1000 ha2024: 139.5k 1000 ha2025: 139.2k 1000 ha

Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Measured in 1000 ha.

Analysis

In 2025, forest land — area in Democratic Republic of the Congo stood at 139,189 1000 ha. That is the lowest value across all 36 years on record.

The figure is down 0.2% on the previous year and down 2.0% over ten years.

Over the whole period, forest land — area in Democratic Republic of the Congo peaked at 160,540 1000 ha in 1990 and was at its lowest, 139,189 1000 ha, in 2025.

That places Democratic Republic of the Congo 10th out of 249 countries with data for 2025, putting it in the top 10%.

The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 36 years of available data.

Forest land — Area in Democratic Republic of the Congo, year by year

Annual values for Forest land — Area in Democratic Republic of the Congo, 1990 to 2025.
Year 1000 ha Change
1990 160,540 1000 ha —
1991 159,865 1000 ha -0.4%
1992 159,190 1000 ha -0.4%
1993 158,515 1000 ha -0.4%
1994 157,840 1000 ha -0.4%
1995 157,165 1000 ha -0.4%
1996 156,490 1000 ha -0.4%
1997 155,815 1000 ha -0.4%
1998 155,140 1000 ha -0.4%
1999 154,465 1000 ha -0.4%
2000 153,790 1000 ha -0.4%
2001 153,115 1000 ha -0.4%
2002 152,440 1000 ha -0.4%
2003 151,765 1000 ha -0.4%
2004 151,090 1000 ha -0.4%
2005 150,415 1000 ha -0.4%
2006 149,740 1000 ha -0.4%
2007 149,065 1000 ha -0.5%
2008 148,390 1000 ha -0.5%
2009 147,715 1000 ha -0.5%
2010 147,040 1000 ha -0.5%
2011 146,036 1000 ha -0.7%
2012 145,031 1000 ha -0.7%
2013 144,027 1000 ha -0.7%
2014 143,022 1000 ha -0.7%
2015 142,018 1000 ha -0.7%
2016 141,735 1000 ha -0.2%
2017 141,452 1000 ha -0.2%
2018 141,169 1000 ha -0.2%
2019 140,886 1000 ha -0.2%
2020 140,604 1000 ha -0.2%
2021 140,321 1000 ha -0.2%
2022 140,038 1000 ha -0.2%
2023 139,755 1000 ha -0.2%
2024 139,472 1000 ha -0.2%
2025 139,189 1000 ha -0.2%

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1990s 157,502 1000 ha 154,465 1000 ha 160,540 1000 ha 10
2000s 150,752 1000 ha 147,715 1000 ha 153,790 1000 ha 10
2010s 143,242 1000 ha 140,886 1000 ha 147,040 1000 ha 10
2020s 139,896 1000 ha 139,189 1000 ha 140,604 1000 ha 6

Countries ranked near Democratic Republic of the Congo

  1. 7 China 227,153 1000 ha compare
  2. 7 China, mainland 227,153 1000 ha compare
  3. 9 Australia and New Zealand 143,865 1000 ha compare
  4. 11 Australia 133,562 1000 ha compare
  5. 12 Indonesia 95,969 1000 ha compare
  6. 13 India 72,739 1000 ha compare

See the full ranking of 281 places →

More environment data for Democratic Republic of the Congo

All data for Democratic Republic of the Congo →

Frequently asked questions

What is forest land — area in Democratic Republic of the Congo?
Forest land — area in Democratic Republic of the Congo was 139,189 1000 ha in 2025, according to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
What is the highest forest land — area recorded in Democratic Republic of the Congo?
The highest recorded value was 160,540 1000 ha in 1990.
What is the lowest forest land — area recorded in Democratic Republic of the Congo?
The lowest recorded value was 139,189 1000 ha in 2025.
How does Democratic Republic of the Congo rank for forest land — area?
Democratic Republic of the Congo ranks 10th out of 249 countries with data for 2025.
Is forest land — area rising or falling in Democratic Republic of the Congo?
Over the last ten years it is down 2.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
Where does this Democratic Republic of the Congo data come from?
The figures come from Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, published as part of Forest land — Area. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

Download this data

CSV · JSON — 36 observations, free to reuse under CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO (FAO).

Share, cite or embed this page

Cite this page

Forest land — Area in Democratic Republic of the Congo. Statizoid, drawing on Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Retrieved 27 September 2026, from https://environment.statizoid.com/stat/forest-land-area/democratic-republic-of-the-congo/

Embed or link this data

Paste this into a page to link back to these figures. The data itself is free to reuse under CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO (FAO); please keep the attribution.

<a href="https://environment.statizoid.com/stat/forest-land-area/democratic-republic-of-the-congo/">Forest land — Area in Democratic Republic of the Congo</a> — Statizoid

About this data

Indicator
Forest land — Area
Unit
1000 ha
Source
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Licence
CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO (FAO)
Coverage
281 places, 9,790 data points, 1990–2025
Last refreshed

The FAOSTAT Land Use domain contains data on twenty-one land use categories and twenty-three categories of irrigation and agricultural practices. Data are available yearly and by country, regional and global levels. The domain includes Land Use Indicators providing information on the percentage share of agricultural and forest land, and their sub-components, including irrigated areas and areas under organic agriculture, within a country land use matrix. Data are available at country, regional and global level, for the following elements: (in percentage) i) Share in Land area; ii) Share in Agricultural land, iii) Share in Cropland; and iv) Share in Forest land; (in ha/pc) v) Area per capita.