Imported deforestation in Democratic Republic of Congo

Democratic Republic of Congo: Imported deforestation was 2,321 hectares in 2023. ▲ Rising

Latest (2023)
2,321 hectares
Change on year
down 15.9%
World rank
94th
of 178 countries
All-time high
18,218 hectares
in 2018
All-time low
2,321 hectares
in 2023
Years of data
19
2005–2023

Imported deforestation in Democratic Republic of Congo, 2005–2023

05.0k10.0k15.0k20.0k2005201420232005: 2.9k hectares2006: 3.6k hectares2007: 7.1k hectares2008: 9.0k hectares2009: 7.9k hectares2010: 11.9k hectares2011: 15.9k hectares2012: 12.3k hectares2013: 13.8k hectares2014: 10.6k hectares2015: 8.3k hectares2016: 12.3k hectares2017: 13.0k hectares2018: 18.2k hectares2019: 17.5k hectares2020: 12.1k hectares2021: 12.2k hectares2022: 2.8k hectares2023: 2.3k hectares

Source: Singh et al. (2026) – processed by Our World in Data. Measured in hectares.

Analysis

Democratic Republic of Congo recorded 2,321 hectares for imported deforestation in 2023. That is the lowest value across all 19 years on record.

Compared with earlier readings it is down 15.9% on the previous year and down 83.1% over ten years.

Over the whole period, imported deforestation in Democratic Republic of Congo peaked at 18,218 hectares in 2018 and was at its lowest, 2,321 hectares, in 2023.

That places Democratic Republic of Congo 94th out of 178 countries with data for 2023, putting it in the middle of the range.

The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 19 years of available data.

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
2000s 6,123 hectares 2,942 hectares 9,040 hectares 5
2010s 13,384 hectares 8,309 hectares 18,218 hectares 10
2020s 7,328 hectares 2,321 hectares 12,177 hectares 4

Countries ranked near Democratic Republic of Congo

  1. 91 Bahrain 2,387 hectares compare
  2. 92 Mozambique 2,373 hectares compare
  3. 93 Zambia 2,331 hectares compare
  4. 95 Tajikistan 2,320 hectares compare
  5. 96 Costa Rica 2,303 hectares compare
  6. 97 Rwanda 2,273 hectares compare

See the full ranking of 178 places →

More environment data for Democratic Republic of Congo

All data for Democratic Republic of Congo →

Frequently asked questions

What is imported deforestation in Democratic Republic of Congo?
Imported deforestation in Democratic Republic of Congo was 2,321 hectares in 2023, according to Singh et al. (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
What is the highest imported deforestation recorded in Democratic Republic of Congo?
The highest recorded value was 18,218 hectares in 2018.
What is the lowest imported deforestation recorded in Democratic Republic of Congo?
The lowest recorded value was 2,321 hectares in 2023.
How does Democratic Republic of Congo rank for imported deforestation?
Democratic Republic of Congo ranks 94th out of 178 countries with data for 2023.
Is imported deforestation rising or falling in Democratic Republic of Congo?
Over the last ten years it is down 83.1%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
Where does this Democratic Republic of Congo data come from?
The figures come from Singh et al. (2026) – processed by Our World in Data, published as part of Imported deforestation. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

Download this data

CSV · JSON — 19 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).

About this data

Indicator
Imported deforestation
Unit
hectares
Source
Singh et al. (2026) – processed by Our World in Data
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
178 places, 3,320 data points, 2005–2023
Last refreshed

Imported deforestation is the amount of deforestation in other countries that is driven by the production of food and forestry products that are imported. This is measured in hectares.