Forest land — Area in Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka: Forest land — Area was 2,121 1000 ha in 2025. ▼ Falling
Forest land — Area in Sri Lanka, 1990–2025
Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Measured in 1000 ha.
Analysis
Sri Lanka recorded 2,121 1000 ha for forest land — area in 2025.
Compared with earlier readings it is down 0.2% on the previous year and up 1.1% over ten years.
Over the whole period, forest land — area in Sri Lanka peaked at 2,370 1000 ha in 1990 and was at its lowest, 2,098 1000 ha, in 2015.
Sri Lanka ranks 120th of 249 countries on this measure, 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 Sri Lanka, year by year
| Year | 1000 ha | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1990 | 2,370 1000 ha | — |
| 1991 | 2,356 1000 ha | -0.6% |
| 1992 | 2,342 1000 ha | -0.6% |
| 1993 | 2,328 1000 ha | -0.6% |
| 1994 | 2,314 1000 ha | -0.6% |
| 1995 | 2,301 1000 ha | -0.6% |
| 1996 | 2,287 1000 ha | -0.6% |
| 1997 | 2,273 1000 ha | -0.6% |
| 1998 | 2,259 1000 ha | -0.6% |
| 1999 | 2,245 1000 ha | -0.6% |
| 2000 | 2,231 1000 ha | -0.6% |
| 2001 | 2,224 1000 ha | -0.3% |
| 2002 | 2,216 1000 ha | -0.3% |
| 2003 | 2,209 1000 ha | -0.3% |
| 2004 | 2,201 1000 ha | -0.3% |
| 2005 | 2,194 1000 ha | -0.3% |
| 2006 | 2,186 1000 ha | -0.3% |
| 2007 | 2,179 1000 ha | -0.3% |
| 2008 | 2,171 1000 ha | -0.3% |
| 2009 | 2,163 1000 ha | -0.3% |
| 2010 | 2,156 1000 ha | -0.3% |
| 2011 | 2,144 1000 ha | -0.5% |
| 2012 | 2,133 1000 ha | -0.5% |
| 2013 | 2,121 1000 ha | -0.5% |
| 2014 | 2,110 1000 ha | -0.5% |
| 2015 | 2,098 1000 ha | -0.5% |
| 2016 | 2,108 1000 ha | +0.4% |
| 2017 | 2,117 1000 ha | +0.4% |
| 2018 | 2,127 1000 ha | +0.4% |
| 2019 | 2,136 1000 ha | +0.4% |
| 2020 | 2,145 1000 ha | +0.4% |
| 2021 | 2,140 1000 ha | -0.2% |
| 2022 | 2,136 1000 ha | -0.2% |
| 2023 | 2,131 1000 ha | -0.2% |
| 2024 | 2,126 1000 ha | -0.2% |
| 2025 | 2,121 1000 ha | -0.2% |
Sri Lanka compared with similar countries
- Sri Lanka's 2,121 1000 ha is below the median for upper middle income countries, which is 2,330 1000 ha, 91% of the median. (55 countries reporting)
- Sri Lanka's 2,121 1000 ha is below the median for South Asia, which is 2,398 1000 ha, 88% of the median. (6 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 2,307 1000 ha | 2,245 1000 ha | 2,370 1000 ha | 10 |
| 2000s | 2,197 1000 ha | 2,163 1000 ha | 2,231 1000 ha | 10 |
| 2010s | 2,125 1000 ha | 2,098 1000 ha | 2,156 1000 ha | 10 |
| 2020s | 2,133 1000 ha | 2,121 1000 ha | 2,145 1000 ha | 6 |
Countries ranked near Sri Lanka
- 117 Dominican Republic 2,257 1000 ha compare
- 118 Lithuania 2,216 1000 ha compare
- 119 Bosnia and Herzegovina 2,162 1000 ha compare
- 121 Guinea-Bissau 2,100 1000 ha compare
- 122 Hungary 2,087 1000 ha compare
- 123 Malawi 2,032 1000 ha compare
More environment data for Sri Lanka
- Historical exposure to drought — Land soil moisture anomaly 5.24 Percentage change (2025)
- Historical exposure to drought — Cropland soil moisture anomaly 5.49 Percentage change (2025)
- Standard Deviation, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Standard Deviation 0.207 °C (2025)
- Temperature change 0.849 °C (2025)
- Wood-based panels — Production, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2024)
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF (Mt CO2e), annual 5.63 % 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 1.22 % change on previous year (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is forest land — area in Sri Lanka?
- Forest land — area in Sri Lanka was 2,121 1000 ha in 2025, according to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
- What is the highest forest land — area recorded in Sri Lanka?
- The highest recorded value was 2,370 1000 ha in 1990.
- What is the lowest forest land — area recorded in Sri Lanka?
- The lowest recorded value was 2,098 1000 ha in 2015.
- How does Sri Lanka rank for forest land — area?
- Sri Lanka ranks 120th out of 249 countries with data for 2025.
- Is forest land — area rising or falling in Sri Lanka?
- Over the last ten years it is up 1.1%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Sri Lanka 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.