Forest land — Share in Land area in Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka: Forest land — Share in Land area was 34.36 % in 2024. ▼ Falling
Forest land — Share in Land area in Sri Lanka, 1990–2024
Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Measured in %.
Analysis
Sri Lanka recorded 34.36 % for forest land — share in land area in 2024.
That represents a change of down 0.2% on the previous year and up 2.1% over ten years.
Over the whole period, forest land — share in land area in Sri Lanka peaked at 37.79 % in 1990 and was at its lowest, 33.64 %, in 2014.
That places Sri Lanka 116th out of 249 countries 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 Sri Lanka, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1990 | 37.79 % | — |
| 1991 | 37.57 % | -0.6% |
| 1992 | 37.35 % | -0.6% |
| 1993 | 37.13 % | -0.6% |
| 1994 | 36.91 % | -0.6% |
| 1995 | 36.69 % | -0.6% |
| 1996 | 36.46 % | -0.6% |
| 1997 | 36.24 % | -0.6% |
| 1998 | 36.02 % | -0.6% |
| 1999 | 35.8 % | -0.6% |
| 2000 | 35.58 % | -0.6% |
| 2001 | 35.46 % | -0.3% |
| 2002 | 35.34 % | -0.3% |
| 2003 | 35.22 % | -0.3% |
| 2004 | 35.1 % | -0.3% |
| 2005 | 34.98 % | -0.3% |
| 2006 | 34.86 % | -0.3% |
| 2007 | 34.74 % | -0.3% |
| 2008 | 34.62 % | -0.3% |
| 2009 | 34.5 % | -0.3% |
| 2010 | 34.38 % | -0.3% |
| 2011 | 34.2 % | -0.5% |
| 2012 | 34.01 % | -0.6% |
| 2013 | 33.83 % | -0.5% |
| 2014 | 33.64 % | -0.6% |
| 2015 | 33.9 % | +0.8% |
| 2016 | 34.05 % | +0.4% |
| 2017 | 34.21 % | +0.5% |
| 2018 | 34.37 % | +0.5% |
| 2019 | 34.53 % | +0.5% |
| 2020 | 34.68 % | +0.4% |
| 2021 | 34.6 % | -0.2% |
| 2022 | 34.52 % | -0.2% |
| 2023 | 34.44 % | -0.2% |
| 2024 | 34.36 % | -0.2% |
Sri Lanka compared with similar countries
- Sri Lanka's 34.36 % is below the median for upper middle income countries, which is 38.73 %, 89% of the median. (55 countries reporting)
- Sri Lanka's 34.36 % is above the median for South Asia, which is 29.4 %, 1.2× the median. (6 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 36.8 % | 35.8 % | 37.79 % | 10 |
| 2000s | 35.04 % | 34.5 % | 35.58 % | 10 |
| 2010s | 34.11 % | 33.64 % | 34.53 % | 10 |
| 2020s | 34.52 % | 34.36 % | 34.68 % | 5 |
Countries ranked near Sri Lanka
More environment data for Sri Lanka
- Historical exposure to drought — Land soil moisture anomaly 5.24 Percentage change (2025)
- Historical exposure to drought — Cropland soil moisture anomaly 5.49 Percentage change (2025)
- Standard Deviation, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Standard Deviation 0.207 °C (2025)
- Temperature change 0.849 °C (2025)
- Wood-based panels — Production, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2024)
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF (Mt CO2e), annual 5.63 % 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 1.22 % change on previous year (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is forest land — share in land area in Sri Lanka?
- Forest land — share in land area in Sri Lanka was 34.36 % in 2024, according to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
- What is the highest forest land — share in land area recorded in Sri Lanka?
- The highest recorded value was 37.79 % in 1990.
- What is the lowest forest land — share in land area recorded in Sri Lanka?
- The lowest recorded value was 33.64 % in 2014.
- How does Sri Lanka rank for forest land — share in land area?
- Sri Lanka ranks 116th out of 249 countries with data for 2024.
- Is forest land — share in land area rising or falling in Sri Lanka?
- Over the last ten years it is up 2.1%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Sri Lanka 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.