Forest land — Share in Land area in Nigeria
Nigeria: Forest land — Share in Land area was 18.95 % in 2024. ▼ Falling
Forest land — Share in Land area in Nigeria, 1990–2024
Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Measured in %.
Analysis
Nigeria recorded 18.95 % for forest land — share in land area in 2024. That is the lowest value across all 35 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is down 0.7% on the previous year and down 6.8% over ten years.
Over the whole period, forest land — share in land area in Nigeria peaked at 23.68 % in 1990 and was at its lowest, 18.95 %, in 2024.
Nigeria ranks 159th of 249 countries on this measure, 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 Nigeria, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1990 | 23.68 % | — |
| 1991 | 23.54 % | -0.6% |
| 1992 | 23.41 % | -0.6% |
| 1993 | 23.27 % | -0.6% |
| 1994 | 23.13 % | -0.6% |
| 1995 | 22.99 % | -0.6% |
| 1996 | 22.85 % | -0.6% |
| 1997 | 22.71 % | -0.6% |
| 1998 | 22.57 % | -0.6% |
| 1999 | 22.43 % | -0.6% |
| 2000 | 22.29 % | -0.6% |
| 2001 | 22.15 % | -0.6% |
| 2002 | 22.01 % | -0.6% |
| 2003 | 21.87 % | -0.6% |
| 2004 | 21.73 % | -0.6% |
| 2005 | 21.59 % | -0.6% |
| 2006 | 21.46 % | -0.6% |
| 2007 | 21.32 % | -0.7% |
| 2008 | 21.18 % | -0.7% |
| 2009 | 21.04 % | -0.7% |
| 2010 | 20.9 % | -0.7% |
| 2011 | 20.76 % | -0.7% |
| 2012 | 20.62 % | -0.7% |
| 2013 | 20.48 % | -0.7% |
| 2014 | 20.34 % | -0.7% |
| 2015 | 20.2 % | -0.7% |
| 2016 | 20.06 % | -0.7% |
| 2017 | 19.92 % | -0.7% |
| 2018 | 19.78 % | -0.7% |
| 2019 | 19.64 % | -0.7% |
| 2020 | 19.5 % | -0.7% |
| 2021 | 19.37 % | -0.7% |
| 2022 | 19.23 % | -0.7% |
| 2023 | 19.09 % | -0.7% |
| 2024 | 18.95 % | -0.7% |
Nigeria compared with similar countries
- Nigeria's 18.95 % is below the median for lower middle income countries, which is 23.45 %, 81% of the median. (44 countries reporting)
- Nigeria's 18.95 % is below the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 22 %, 86% of the median. (45 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 23.06 % | 22.43 % | 23.68 % | 10 |
| 2000s | 21.66 % | 21.04 % | 22.29 % | 10 |
| 2010s | 20.27 % | 19.64 % | 20.9 % | 10 |
| 2020s | 19.23 % | 18.95 % | 19.5 % | 5 |
Countries ranked near Nigeria
More environment data for Nigeria
- Historical exposure to drought — Land soil moisture anomaly -5.73 Percentage change (2025)
- Historical exposure to drought — Cropland soil moisture anomaly -5.07 Percentage change (2025)
- Standard Deviation, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Standard Deviation 0.281 °C (2025)
- Temperature change 1.15 °C (2025)
- Wood-based panels — Production, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2024)
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF (Mt CO2e), annual 3.78 % 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 0.4617 % change on previous year (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is forest land — share in land area in Nigeria?
- Forest land — share in land area in Nigeria was 18.95 % in 2024, according to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
- What is the highest forest land — share in land area recorded in Nigeria?
- The highest recorded value was 23.68 % in 1990.
- What is the lowest forest land — share in land area recorded in Nigeria?
- The lowest recorded value was 18.95 % in 2024.
- How does Nigeria rank for forest land — share in land area?
- Nigeria ranks 159th out of 249 countries with data for 2024.
- Is forest land — share in land area rising or falling in Nigeria?
- Over the last ten years it is down 6.8%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Nigeria 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.