Forest land — Area in Sub-Saharan Africa
Sub-Saharan Africa: Forest land — Area was 631,760 1000 ha in 2025. ▼ Falling
Forest land — Area in Sub-Saharan Africa, 1990–2025
Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Measured in 1000 ha.
Analysis
Sub-Saharan Africa recorded 631,760 1000 ha for forest land — area in 2025. That is the lowest value across all 36 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is down 0.4% on the previous year and down 4.2% over ten years.
Over the whole period, forest land — area in Sub-Saharan Africa peaked at 735,402 1000 ha in 1990 and was at its lowest, 631,760 1000 ha, in 2025.
Sub-Saharan Africa ranks 10th of 32 groups 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 Sub-Saharan Africa, year by year
| Year | 1000 ha | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1990 | 735,402 1000 ha | — |
| 1991 | 732,302 1000 ha | -0.4% |
| 1992 | 729,203 1000 ha | -0.4% |
| 1993 | 726,103 1000 ha | -0.4% |
| 1994 | 723,004 1000 ha | -0.4% |
| 1995 | 719,904 1000 ha | -0.4% |
| 1996 | 716,804 1000 ha | -0.4% |
| 1997 | 713,705 1000 ha | -0.4% |
| 1998 | 710,605 1000 ha | -0.4% |
| 1999 | 707,506 1000 ha | -0.4% |
| 2000 | 704,406 1000 ha | -0.4% |
| 2001 | 701,190 1000 ha | -0.5% |
| 2002 | 697,973 1000 ha | -0.5% |
| 2003 | 694,756 1000 ha | -0.5% |
| 2004 | 691,540 1000 ha | -0.5% |
| 2005 | 688,323 1000 ha | -0.5% |
| 2006 | 685,107 1000 ha | -0.5% |
| 2007 | 681,890 1000 ha | -0.5% |
| 2008 | 678,673 1000 ha | -0.5% |
| 2009 | 675,457 1000 ha | -0.5% |
| 2010 | 672,240 1000 ha | -0.5% |
| 2011 | 668,280 1000 ha | -0.6% |
| 2012 | 671,463 1000 ha | +0.5% |
| 2013 | 667,507 1000 ha | -0.6% |
| 2014 | 663,550 1000 ha | -0.6% |
| 2015 | 659,594 1000 ha | -0.6% |
| 2016 | 656,695 1000 ha | -0.4% |
| 2017 | 653,796 1000 ha | -0.4% |
| 2018 | 650,897 1000 ha | -0.4% |
| 2019 | 647,998 1000 ha | -0.4% |
| 2020 | 645,100 1000 ha | -0.4% |
| 2021 | 642,432 1000 ha | -0.4% |
| 2022 | 639,764 1000 ha | -0.4% |
| 2023 | 637,096 1000 ha | -0.4% |
| 2024 | 634,428 1000 ha | -0.4% |
| 2025 | 631,760 1000 ha | -0.4% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 721,454 1000 ha | 707,506 1000 ha | 735,402 1000 ha | 10 |
| 2000s | 689,932 1000 ha | 675,457 1000 ha | 704,406 1000 ha | 10 |
| 2010s | 661,202 1000 ha | 647,998 1000 ha | 672,240 1000 ha | 10 |
| 2020s | 638,430 1000 ha | 631,760 1000 ha | 645,100 1000 ha | 6 |
Countries ranked near Sub-Saharan Africa
- 7 China 227,153 1000 ha compare
- 7 China, mainland 227,153 1000 ha compare
- 9 Australia and New Zealand 143,865 1000 ha compare
- 10 Democratic Republic of the Congo 139,189 1000 ha compare
- 11 Australia 133,562 1000 ha compare
- 12 Indonesia 95,969 1000 ha compare
- 13 India 72,739 1000 ha compare
More environment data for Sub-Saharan Africa
- Historical exposure to drought — Land soil moisture anomaly -7.11 Percentage change (2025)
- Historical exposure to drought — Cropland soil moisture anomaly -6.36 Percentage change (2025)
- Standard Deviation, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Standard Deviation 0.223 °C (2025)
- Temperature change 1.21 °C (2025)
- Nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions (total) excluding LULUCF 305.43 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Aquaculture production 904,662 metric tons (2024)
- Nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions from Power Industry (Energy) 2.29 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions from Transport (Energy) 2.96 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Permanent meadows and pastures — Share in Agricultural land 72.81 % (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is forest land — area in Sub-Saharan Africa?
- Forest land — area in Sub-Saharan Africa was 631,760 1000 ha in 2025, according to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
- What is the highest forest land — area recorded in Sub-Saharan Africa?
- The highest recorded value was 735,402 1000 ha in 1990.
- What is the lowest forest land — area recorded in Sub-Saharan Africa?
- The lowest recorded value was 631,760 1000 ha in 2025.
- How does Sub-Saharan Africa rank for forest land — area?
- Sub-Saharan Africa ranks 10th out of 32 groups with data for 2025.
- Is forest land — area rising or falling in Sub-Saharan Africa?
- Over the last ten years it is down 4.2%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Sub-Saharan 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.