Forest land — Area in New Zealand
New Zealand: Forest land — Area was 10,303 1000 ha in 2025. ▲ Rising
Forest land — Area in New Zealand, 1990–2025
Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Measured in 1000 ha.
Analysis
New Zealand recorded 10,303 1000 ha for forest land — area in 2025. That is the highest value across all 36 years on record.
That represents a change of up 0.7% on the previous year and up 4.6% over ten years.
Over the whole period, forest land — area in New Zealand peaked at 10,303 1000 ha in 2025 and was at its lowest, 9,372 1000 ha, in 1990.
That places New Zealand 61st out of 249 countries with data for 2025, putting it in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 36 years of available data.
Forest land — Area in New Zealand, year by year
| Year | 1000 ha | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1990 | 9,372 1000 ha | — |
| 1991 | 9,420 1000 ha | +0.5% |
| 1992 | 9,468 1000 ha | +0.5% |
| 1993 | 9,516 1000 ha | +0.5% |
| 1994 | 9,564 1000 ha | +0.5% |
| 1995 | 9,611 1000 ha | +0.5% |
| 1996 | 9,659 1000 ha | +0.5% |
| 1997 | 9,707 1000 ha | +0.5% |
| 1998 | 9,755 1000 ha | +0.5% |
| 1999 | 9,803 1000 ha | +0.5% |
| 2000 | 9,850 1000 ha | +0.5% |
| 2001 | 9,850 1000 ha | -0.0% |
| 2002 | 9,850 1000 ha | -0.0% |
| 2003 | 9,850 1000 ha | -0.0% |
| 2004 | 9,850 1000 ha | -0.0% |
| 2005 | 9,849 1000 ha | -0.0% |
| 2006 | 9,849 1000 ha | -0.0% |
| 2007 | 9,849 1000 ha | -0.0% |
| 2008 | 9,849 1000 ha | -0.0% |
| 2009 | 9,848 1000 ha | -0.0% |
| 2010 | 9,848 1000 ha | -0.0% |
| 2011 | 9,848 1000 ha | -0.0% |
| 2012 | 9,848 1000 ha | -0.0% |
| 2013 | 9,847 1000 ha | -0.0% |
| 2014 | 9,847 1000 ha | -0.0% |
| 2015 | 9,847 1000 ha | -0.0% |
| 2016 | 9,870 1000 ha | +0.2% |
| 2017 | 9,894 1000 ha | +0.2% |
| 2018 | 9,918 1000 ha | +0.2% |
| 2019 | 9,942 1000 ha | +0.2% |
| 2020 | 9,965 1000 ha | +0.2% |
| 2021 | 10,033 1000 ha | +0.7% |
| 2022 | 10,100 1000 ha | +0.7% |
| 2023 | 10,168 1000 ha | +0.7% |
| 2024 | 10,236 1000 ha | +0.7% |
| 2025 | 10,303 1000 ha | +0.7% |
New Zealand compared with similar countries
- New Zealand's 10,303 1000 ha is above the median for high income countries, which is 576.21 1000 ha, 17.9× the median. (78 countries reporting)
- New Zealand's 10,303 1000 ha is above the median for East Asia & Pacific, which is 1,137 1000 ha, 9.1× the median. (31 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 9,587 1000 ha | 9,372 1000 ha | 9,803 1000 ha | 10 |
| 2000s | 9,849 1000 ha | 9,848 1000 ha | 9,850 1000 ha | 10 |
| 2010s | 9,871 1000 ha | 9,847 1000 ha | 9,942 1000 ha | 10 |
| 2020s | 10,134 1000 ha | 9,965 1000 ha | 10,303 1000 ha | 6 |
Countries ranked near New Zealand
More environment data for New Zealand
- Historical exposure to drought — Land soil moisture anomaly -0.2131 Percentage change (2025)
- Historical exposure to drought — Cropland soil moisture anomaly 1.69 Percentage change (2025)
- Standard Deviation, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Standard Deviation 0.379 °C (2025)
- Temperature change 1.23 °C (2025)
- Wood-based panels — Production, annual growth rate 0.1365 % change on previous year (2024)
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF (Mt CO2e), annual -0.474 % 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 -0.9337 % change on previous year (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is forest land — area in New Zealand?
- Forest land — area in New Zealand was 10,303 1000 ha in 2025, according to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
- What is the highest forest land — area recorded in New Zealand?
- The highest recorded value was 10,303 1000 ha in 2025.
- What is the lowest forest land — area recorded in New Zealand?
- The lowest recorded value was 9,372 1000 ha in 1990.
- How does New Zealand rank for forest land — area?
- New Zealand ranks 61st out of 249 countries with data for 2025.
- Is forest land — 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, 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.