Forest land — Share in Land area in South Africa
South Africa: Forest land — Share in Land area was 18.79 % in 2024. ▲ Rising
Forest land — Share in Land area in South Africa, 1990–2024
Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Measured in %.
Analysis
The most recent figure for forest land — share in land area in South Africa is 18.79 %, measured in 2024. That is the highest value across all 35 years on record.
The figure is up 0.4% on the previous year and up 4.0% over ten years.
Over the whole period, forest land — share in land area in South Africa peaked at 18.79 % in 2024 and was at its lowest, 16.34 %, in 1990.
That places South Africa 137th out of 215 countries with data for 2024, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 35 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 16.66 % | 16.34 % | 16.99 % | 10 |
| 2000s | 17.38 % | 17.06 % | 17.71 % | 10 |
| 2010s | 18.1 % | 17.78 % | 18.43 % | 10 |
| 2020s | 18.65 % | 18.5 % | 18.79 % | 5 |
Countries ranked near South Africa
More environment data for South Africa
- Historical exposure to drought — Land soil moisture anomaly 5.46 Percentage change (2025)
- Historical exposure to drought — Cropland soil moisture anomaly 8.52 Percentage change (2025)
- Standard Deviation, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Standard Deviation 0.275 °C (2025)
- Temperature change 1.05 °C (2025)
- Other paper and paperboard, not elsewhere specified — Import -37.67 % change on previous year (2024)
- Other paper and paperboard, not elsewhere specified — Import 0.0001 t per person (2024)
- Exposure to drought — Land soil moisture anomaly -11.78 Percentage change (2024)
- Exposure to drought — Cropland soil moisture anomaly -12.27 Percentage change (2024)
- Other paper and paperboard, not elsewhere specified — Import value -6.69 % change on previous year (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is forest land — share in land area in South Africa?
- Forest land — share in land area in South Africa was 18.79 % in 2024, according to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
- What is the highest forest land — share in land area recorded in South Africa?
- The highest recorded value was 18.79 % in 2024.
- What is the lowest forest land — share in land area recorded in South Africa?
- The lowest recorded value was 16.34 % in 1990.
- How does South Africa rank for forest land — share in land area?
- South Africa ranks 137th out of 215 countries with data for 2024.
- Is forest land — share in land area rising or falling in South Africa?
- Over the last ten years it is up 4.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this South 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.