Forest land — Share in Land area in Europe
Europe: Forest land — Share in Land area was 46.9 % in 2024. ▲ Rising
Forest land — Share in Land area in Europe, 1990–2024
Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Measured in %.
Analysis
Europe recorded 46.9 % for forest land — share in land area in 2024. That is the highest value across all 35 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is up 0.1% on the previous year and up 1.4% over ten years.
Over the whole period, forest land — share in land area in Europe peaked at 46.9 % in 2024 and was at its lowest, 37.91 %, in 1990.
That places Europe 6th out of 32 groups with data for 2024, putting it in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 35 years of available data.
Forest land — Share in Land area in Europe, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1990 | 37.91 % | — |
| 1991 | 37.94 % | +0.1% |
| 1992 | 45.14 % | +19.0% |
| 1993 | 45.19 % | +0.1% |
| 1994 | 45.24 % | +0.1% |
| 1995 | 45.28 % | +0.1% |
| 1996 | 45.32 % | +0.1% |
| 1997 | 45.35 % | +0.1% |
| 1998 | 45.38 % | +0.1% |
| 1999 | 45.41 % | +0.1% |
| 2000 | 45.46 % | +0.1% |
| 2001 | 45.52 % | +0.1% |
| 2002 | 45.59 % | +0.2% |
| 2003 | 45.66 % | +0.2% |
| 2004 | 45.72 % | +0.1% |
| 2005 | 45.79 % | +0.2% |
| 2006 | 45.87 % | +0.2% |
| 2007 | 45.93 % | +0.1% |
| 2008 | 46 % | +0.2% |
| 2009 | 46.07 % | +0.2% |
| 2010 | 46.13 % | +0.1% |
| 2011 | 46.17 % | +0.1% |
| 2012 | 46.2 % | +0.1% |
| 2013 | 46.24 % | +0.1% |
| 2014 | 46.27 % | +0.1% |
| 2015 | 46.31 % | +0.1% |
| 2016 | 46.38 % | +0.2% |
| 2017 | 46.46 % | +0.2% |
| 2018 | 46.54 % | +0.2% |
| 2019 | 46.61 % | +0.2% |
| 2020 | 46.69 % | +0.2% |
| 2021 | 46.75 % | +0.1% |
| 2022 | 46.8 % | +0.1% |
| 2023 | 46.85 % | +0.1% |
| 2024 | 46.9 % | +0.1% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 43.82 % | 37.91 % | 45.41 % | 10 |
| 2000s | 45.76 % | 45.46 % | 46.07 % | 10 |
| 2010s | 46.33 % | 46.13 % | 46.61 % | 10 |
| 2020s | 46.8 % | 46.69 % | 46.9 % | 5 |
Countries ranked near Europe
- 3 Suriname 91.54 % compare
- 4 Gabon 91.44 % compare
- 5 Palau 90.83 % compare
- 6 Solomon Islands 89.84 % compare
- 7 Guyana 87.07 % compare
- 8 Equatorial Guinea 86.09 % compare
- 9 American Samoa 79.65 % compare
More environment data for Europe
- Historical exposure to drought — Land soil moisture anomaly -1.75 Percentage change (2025)
- Historical exposure to drought — Cropland soil moisture anomaly -3.33 Percentage change (2025)
- Standard Deviation, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Standard Deviation 0.435 °C (2025)
- Temperature change 2.71 °C (2025)
- Total fibre furnish — Production 101.18 million t (2024)
- Recovered paper — Production 57.94 million t (2024)
- Paper and paperboard — Production 94.14 million t (2024)
- Other paper and paperboard — Production 73.33 million t (2024)
- Nutrient nitrogen N (total) — Use per area of cropland 49.53 kg/ha (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is forest land — share in land area in Europe?
- Forest land — share in land area in Europe was 46.9 % in 2024, according to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
- What is the highest forest land — share in land area recorded in Europe?
- The highest recorded value was 46.9 % in 2024.
- What is the lowest forest land — share in land area recorded in Europe?
- The lowest recorded value was 37.91 % in 1990.
- How does Europe rank for forest land — share in land area?
- Europe ranks 6th out of 32 groups with data for 2024.
- Is forest land — share in land area rising or falling in Europe?
- Over the last ten years it is up 1.4%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Europe 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.