Forest land — Share in Land area in Sub-Saharan Africa
Sub-Saharan Africa: Forest land — Share in Land area was 28.77 % in 2024. ▼ Falling
Forest land — Share in Land area in Sub-Saharan 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 Sub-Saharan Africa is 28.77 %, measured in 2024. That is the lowest value across all 35 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is down 0.4% on the previous year and down 4.5% over ten years.
Over the whole period, forest land — share in land area in Sub-Saharan Africa peaked at 34.58 % in 1990 and was at its lowest, 28.77 %, in 2024.
That places Sub-Saharan Africa 28th out of 47 groups 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 | 33.93 % | 33.27 % | 34.58 % | 10 |
| 2000s | 32.31 % | 31.55 % | 33.12 % | 10 |
| 2010s | 30.17 % | 29.39 % | 31.4 % | 10 |
| 2020s | 29.01 % | 28.77 % | 29.26 % | 5 |
Countries ranked near Sub-Saharan Africa
- 25 Panama 62.25 % compare
- 26 Slovenia 61.76 % compare
- 27 Fiji, Republic of 61.74 % compare
- 28 Montenegro 61.49 % compare
- 29 Zambia 60.5 % compare
- 30 Costa Rica 59.06 % compare
- 31 Mayotte 26.3 % compare
- 31 United States Virgin Islands 58.94 % compare
More environment data for Sub-Saharan Africa
- Standard Deviation, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Standard Deviation 0.223 °C (2025)
- Temperature change 1.21 °C (2025)
- Nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions (total) excluding LULUCF 305.43 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Aquaculture production 904,662 metric tons (2024)
- Nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions from Power Industry (Energy) 2.29 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions from Transport (Energy) 2.96 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Permanent meadows and pastures — Share in Agricultural land 72.81 % (2024)
- Land area equipped for irrigation — Area 7,505 1000 ha (2024)
- Nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions from Waste 13.02 Mt CO2e (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is forest land — share in land area in Sub-Saharan Africa?
- Forest land — share in land area in Sub-Saharan Africa was 28.77 % in 2024, according to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
- What is the highest forest land — share in land area recorded in Sub-Saharan Africa?
- The highest recorded value was 34.58 % in 1990.
- What is the lowest forest land — share in land area recorded in Sub-Saharan Africa?
- The lowest recorded value was 28.77 % in 2024.
- How does Sub-Saharan Africa rank for forest land — share in land area?
- Sub-Saharan Africa ranks 28th out of 47 groups with data for 2024.
- Is forest land — share in land area rising or falling in Sub-Saharan Africa?
- Over the last ten years it is down 4.5%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Sub-Saharan 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.