Forest land — Area in Southern Africa
Southern Africa: Forest land — Area was 47,122 1000 ha in 2025. ▲ Rising
Forest land — Area in Southern Africa, 1990–2025
Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Measured in 1000 ha.
Analysis
In 2025, forest land — area in Southern Africa stood at 47,122 1000 ha. That is the highest value across all 36 years on record.
That represents a change of up 0.2% on the previous year and up 1.9% over ten years.
Over the whole period, forest land — area in Southern Africa peaked at 47,122 1000 ha in 2025 and was at its lowest, 44,834 1000 ha, in 1990.
Southern Africa ranks 28th of 32 groups on this measure, in the bottom quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 36 years of available data.
Forest land — Area in Southern Africa, year by year
| Year | 1000 ha | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1990 | 44,834 1000 ha | — |
| 1991 | 44,849 1000 ha | +0.0% |
| 1992 | 44,864 1000 ha | +0.0% |
| 1993 | 44,879 1000 ha | +0.0% |
| 1994 | 44,894 1000 ha | +0.0% |
| 1995 | 44,909 1000 ha | +0.0% |
| 1996 | 44,924 1000 ha | +0.0% |
| 1997 | 44,939 1000 ha | +0.0% |
| 1998 | 44,954 1000 ha | +0.0% |
| 1999 | 44,969 1000 ha | +0.0% |
| 2000 | 44,984 1000 ha | +0.0% |
| 2001 | 45,070 1000 ha | +0.2% |
| 2002 | 45,155 1000 ha | +0.2% |
| 2003 | 45,241 1000 ha | +0.2% |
| 2004 | 45,326 1000 ha | +0.2% |
| 2005 | 45,411 1000 ha | +0.2% |
| 2006 | 45,497 1000 ha | +0.2% |
| 2007 | 45,582 1000 ha | +0.2% |
| 2008 | 45,668 1000 ha | +0.2% |
| 2009 | 45,753 1000 ha | +0.2% |
| 2010 | 45,838 1000 ha | +0.2% |
| 2011 | 45,924 1000 ha | +0.2% |
| 2012 | 46,009 1000 ha | +0.2% |
| 2013 | 46,095 1000 ha | +0.2% |
| 2014 | 46,180 1000 ha | +0.2% |
| 2015 | 46,266 1000 ha | +0.2% |
| 2016 | 46,352 1000 ha | +0.2% |
| 2017 | 46,437 1000 ha | +0.2% |
| 2018 | 46,523 1000 ha | +0.2% |
| 2019 | 46,609 1000 ha | +0.2% |
| 2020 | 46,695 1000 ha | +0.2% |
| 2021 | 46,780 1000 ha | +0.2% |
| 2022 | 46,866 1000 ha | +0.2% |
| 2023 | 46,951 1000 ha | +0.2% |
| 2024 | 47,037 1000 ha | +0.2% |
| 2025 | 47,122 1000 ha | +0.2% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 44,901 1000 ha | 44,834 1000 ha | 44,969 1000 ha | 10 |
| 2000s | 45,369 1000 ha | 44,984 1000 ha | 45,753 1000 ha | 10 |
| 2010s | 46,223 1000 ha | 45,838 1000 ha | 46,609 1000 ha | 10 |
| 2020s | 46,909 1000 ha | 46,695 1000 ha | 47,122 1000 ha | 6 |
Countries ranked near Southern Africa
- 25 Papua New Guinea 34,029 1000 ha compare
- 26 Mozambique 32,243 1000 ha compare
- 27 Sudan (former) 31,559 1000 ha compare
- 28 Sweden 27,934 1000 ha compare
- 29 Myanmar 27,095 1000 ha compare
- 30 Ethiopia 26,747 1000 ha compare
- 31 Japan 24,908 1000 ha compare
More environment data for Southern Africa
- Standard Deviation, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Historical exposure to drought — Land soil moisture anomaly 4.17 Percentage change (2025)
- Historical exposure to drought — Cropland soil moisture anomaly 7.61 Percentage change (2025)
- Standard Deviation 0.282 °C (2025)
- Temperature change 0.892 °C (2025)
- Wood fuel, coniferous — Production 770,000 m3 (2024)
- Roundwood, non-coniferous — Production 27.42 million m3 (2024)
- Wood fuel, non-coniferous — Production 17.80 million m3 (2024)
- Industrial roundwood — Production 17.26 million m3 (2024)
- Industrial roundwood — Import quantity 161,260 m3 (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is forest land — area in Southern Africa?
- Forest land — area in Southern Africa was 47,122 1000 ha in 2025, according to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
- What is the highest forest land — area recorded in Southern Africa?
- The highest recorded value was 47,122 1000 ha in 2025.
- What is the lowest forest land — area recorded in Southern Africa?
- The lowest recorded value was 44,834 1000 ha in 1990.
- How does Southern Africa rank for forest land — area?
- Southern Africa ranks 28th out of 32 groups with data for 2025.
- Is forest land — area rising or falling in Southern Africa?
- Over the last ten years it is up 1.9%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Southern Africa 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.