Forest land — Share in Land area in Africa
Africa: Forest land — Share in Land area was 22.24 % in 2024. ▼ Falling
Forest land — Share in Land area in Africa, 1990–2024
Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Measured in %.
Analysis
Africa recorded 22.24 % for forest land — share in land area in 2024. That is the lowest value across all 35 years on record.
The figure is down 0.4% on the previous year and down 4.5% over ten years.
Over the whole period, forest land — share in land area in Africa peaked at 26.29 % in 1990 and was at its lowest, 22.24 %, in 2024.
That places Africa 23rd out of 32 groups with data for 2024, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 35 years of available data.
Forest land — Share in Land area in Africa, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1990 | 26.29 % | — |
| 1991 | 26.18 % | -0.4% |
| 1992 | 26.07 % | -0.4% |
| 1993 | 25.96 % | -0.4% |
| 1994 | 25.85 % | -0.4% |
| 1995 | 25.74 % | -0.4% |
| 1996 | 25.63 % | -0.4% |
| 1997 | 25.52 % | -0.4% |
| 1998 | 25.41 % | -0.4% |
| 1999 | 25.3 % | -0.4% |
| 2000 | 25.19 % | -0.4% |
| 2001 | 25.07 % | -0.5% |
| 2002 | 24.96 % | -0.4% |
| 2003 | 24.84 % | -0.5% |
| 2004 | 24.61 % | -0.9% |
| 2005 | 24.5 % | -0.4% |
| 2006 | 24.38 % | -0.5% |
| 2007 | 24.27 % | -0.5% |
| 2008 | 24.16 % | -0.5% |
| 2009 | 24.04 % | -0.5% |
| 2010 | 23.93 % | -0.5% |
| 2011 | 23.79 % | -0.6% |
| 2012 | 23.55 % | -1.0% |
| 2013 | 23.42 % | -0.6% |
| 2014 | 23.28 % | -0.6% |
| 2015 | 23.14 % | -0.6% |
| 2016 | 23.03 % | -0.5% |
| 2017 | 22.93 % | -0.4% |
| 2018 | 22.83 % | -0.4% |
| 2019 | 22.72 % | -0.5% |
| 2020 | 22.62 % | -0.4% |
| 2021 | 22.52 % | -0.4% |
| 2022 | 22.43 % | -0.4% |
| 2023 | 22.33 % | -0.4% |
| 2024 | 22.24 % | -0.4% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 25.79 % | 25.3 % | 26.29 % | 10 |
| 2000s | 24.6 % | 24.04 % | 25.19 % | 10 |
| 2010s | 23.26 % | 22.72 % | 23.93 % | 10 |
| 2020s | 22.43 % | 22.24 % | 22.62 % | 5 |
Countries ranked near Africa
- 20 Central African Republic 72.46 % compare
- 21 Brunei Darussalam 72.11 % compare
- 21 Brunei 72.11 % compare
- 23 Timor-Leste 70.96 % compare
- 23 East Timor 70.96 % compare
- 25 Bhutan 70.35 % compare
- 26 Sweden 68.59 % compare
More environment data for Africa
- Standard Deviation, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Historical exposure to drought — Cropland soil moisture anomaly -7.12 Percentage change (2025)
- Historical exposure to drought — Land soil moisture anomaly -7.93 Percentage change (2025)
- Temperature change 1.32 °C (2025)
- Standard Deviation 0.213 °C (2025)
- Other industrial roundwood, non-coniferous (production) — Production 26.92 million m3 (2024)
- Primary wood and paper products (export/import) — Import value 11.21 million 1000 USD (2024)
- Industrial roundwood, non-coniferous — Production 66.41 million m3 (2024)
- Sawlogs and veneer logs — Production 39.12 million m3 (2024)
- Sawlogs and veneer logs, coniferous — Production 9.31 million m3 (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is forest land — share in land area in Africa?
- Forest land — share in land area in Africa was 22.24 % in 2024, according to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
- What is the highest forest land — share in land area recorded in Africa?
- The highest recorded value was 26.29 % in 1990.
- What is the lowest forest land — share in land area recorded in Africa?
- The lowest recorded value was 22.24 % in 2024.
- How does Africa rank for forest land — share in land area?
- Africa ranks 23rd out of 32 groups with data for 2024.
- Is forest land — share in land area rising or falling in Africa?
- Over the last ten years it is down 4.5%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Africa data come from?
- The figures come from Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, published as part of Forest land — Share in Land area. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 35 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.