Forest land — Area in Malawi
Malawi: Forest land — Area was 2,032 1000 ha in 2025. ▼ Falling
Forest land — Area in Malawi, 1990–2025
Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Measured in 1000 ha.
Analysis
The most recent figure for forest land — area in Malawi is 2,032 1000 ha, measured in 2025. That is the lowest value across all 36 years on record.
That represents a change of down 2.0% on the previous year and down 17.1% over ten years.
Over the whole period, forest land — area in Malawi peaked at 3,502 1000 ha in 1990 and was at its lowest, 2,032 1000 ha, in 2025.
That places Malawi 123rd out of 249 countries with data for 2025, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 36 years of available data.
Forest land — Area in Malawi, year by year
| Year | 1000 ha | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1990 | 3,502 1000 ha | — |
| 1991 | 3,460 1000 ha | -1.2% |
| 1992 | 3,418 1000 ha | -1.2% |
| 1993 | 3,376 1000 ha | -1.2% |
| 1994 | 3,334 1000 ha | -1.2% |
| 1995 | 3,292 1000 ha | -1.3% |
| 1996 | 3,250 1000 ha | -1.3% |
| 1997 | 3,208 1000 ha | -1.3% |
| 1998 | 3,166 1000 ha | -1.3% |
| 1999 | 3,124 1000 ha | -1.3% |
| 2000 | 3,082 1000 ha | -1.3% |
| 2001 | 3,040 1000 ha | -1.4% |
| 2002 | 2,998 1000 ha | -1.4% |
| 2003 | 2,956 1000 ha | -1.4% |
| 2004 | 2,914 1000 ha | -1.4% |
| 2005 | 2,872 1000 ha | -1.4% |
| 2006 | 2,830 1000 ha | -1.5% |
| 2007 | 2,788 1000 ha | -1.5% |
| 2008 | 2,746 1000 ha | -1.5% |
| 2009 | 2,704 1000 ha | -1.5% |
| 2010 | 2,662 1000 ha | -1.6% |
| 2011 | 2,620 1000 ha | -1.6% |
| 2012 | 2,578 1000 ha | -1.6% |
| 2013 | 2,536 1000 ha | -1.6% |
| 2014 | 2,494 1000 ha | -1.7% |
| 2015 | 2,452 1000 ha | -1.7% |
| 2016 | 2,410 1000 ha | -1.7% |
| 2017 | 2,368 1000 ha | -1.7% |
| 2018 | 2,326 1000 ha | -1.8% |
| 2019 | 2,284 1000 ha | -1.8% |
| 2020 | 2,242 1000 ha | -1.8% |
| 2021 | 2,200 1000 ha | -1.9% |
| 2022 | 2,158 1000 ha | -1.9% |
| 2023 | 2,116 1000 ha | -1.9% |
| 2024 | 2,074 1000 ha | -2.0% |
| 2025 | 2,032 1000 ha | -2.0% |
Malawi compared with similar countries
- Malawi's 2,032 1000 ha is below the median for low income countries, which is 2,436 1000 ha, 83% of the median. (23 countries reporting)
- Malawi's 2,032 1000 ha is below the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 3,914 1000 ha, 52% of the median. (45 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 3,313 1000 ha | 3,124 1000 ha | 3,502 1000 ha | 10 |
| 2000s | 2,893 1000 ha | 2,704 1000 ha | 3,082 1000 ha | 10 |
| 2010s | 2,473 1000 ha | 2,284 1000 ha | 2,662 1000 ha | 10 |
| 2020s | 2,137 1000 ha | 2,032 1000 ha | 2,242 1000 ha | 6 |
Countries ranked near Malawi
More environment data for Malawi
- Historical exposure to drought — Land soil moisture anomaly -0.9153 Percentage change (2025)
- Historical exposure to drought — Cropland soil moisture anomaly -0.8098 Percentage change (2025)
- Standard Deviation, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Standard Deviation 0.254 °C (2025)
- Temperature change 1.07 °C (2025)
- Wood-based panels — Production, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2024)
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF (Mt CO2e), annual 3.65 % 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 5.3 % change on previous year (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is forest land — area in Malawi?
- Forest land — area in Malawi was 2,032 1000 ha in 2025, according to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
- What is the highest forest land — area recorded in Malawi?
- The highest recorded value was 3,502 1000 ha in 1990.
- What is the lowest forest land — area recorded in Malawi?
- The lowest recorded value was 2,032 1000 ha in 2025.
- How does Malawi rank for forest land — area?
- Malawi ranks 123rd out of 249 countries with data for 2025.
- Is forest land — area rising or falling in Malawi?
- Over the last ten years it is down 17.1%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Malawi 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).
About this data
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.