Forest land — Share in Land area in South America
South America: Forest land — Share in Land area was 48.79 % in 2024. ▼ Falling
Forest land — Share in Land area in South America, 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 America is 48.79 %, measured in 2024. That is the lowest value across all 35 years on record.
That represents a change of down 0.5% on the previous year and down 4.6% over ten years.
Over the whole period, forest land — share in land area in South America peaked at 58.78 % in 1990 and was at its lowest, 48.79 %, in 2024.
That places South America 17th out of 47 regions 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.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 56.92 % | 55.1 % | 58.78 % | 10 |
| 2000s | 53.4 % | 52.13 % | 54.68 % | 10 |
| 2010s | 50.99 % | 50.06 % | 51.84 % | 10 |
| 2020s | 49.29 % | 48.79 % | 49.8 % | 5 |
Countries ranked near South America
- 14 Finland 74.15 % compare
- 15 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 73.42 % compare
- 16 Central African Republic 72.46 % compare
- 17 Brunei Darussalam 72.11 % compare
- 18 Bhutan 70.35 % compare
- 19 Sweden 68.59 % compare
- 20 Japan 68.34 % compare
More environment data for South America
- Historical exposure to drought — Cropland soil moisture anomaly -6.52 Percentage change (2025)
- Historical exposure to drought — Land soil moisture anomaly -4.98 Percentage change (2025)
- Standard Deviation 0.218 °C (2025)
- Temperature change 1.23 °C (2025)
- Standard Deviation, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Other paper and paperboard, not elsewhere specified — Import value -5.13 % change on previous year (2024)
- Total fibre furnish — Production, annual growth rate 4.24 % change on previous year (2024)
- Exposure to drought — Cropland soil moisture anomaly -9.52 Percentage change (2024)
- Exposure to drought — Land soil moisture anomaly -8.79 Percentage change (2024)
- Printing and writing papers — Import quantity 1.17 million t (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is forest land — share in land area in South America?
- Forest land — share in land area in South America was 48.79 % 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 America?
- The highest recorded value was 58.78 % in 1990.
- What is the lowest forest land — share in land area recorded in South America?
- The lowest recorded value was 48.79 % in 2024.
- How does South America rank for forest land — share in land area?
- South America ranks 17th out of 47 regions with data for 2024.
- Is forest land — share in land area rising or falling in South America?
- Over the last ten years it is down 4.6%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this South America 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.