Naturally regenerating forest — Area in Sub-Saharan Africa
Sub-Saharan Africa: Naturally regenerating forest — Area was 618,897 1000 ha in 2025. ▼ Falling
Naturally regenerating forest — Area in Sub-Saharan Africa, 1990–2025
Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Measured in 1000 ha.
Analysis
In 2025, naturally regenerating forest — area in Sub-Saharan Africa stood at 618,897 1000 ha. That is the lowest value across all 36 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is down 0.5% on the previous year and down 4.6% over ten years.
Over the whole period, naturally regenerating forest — area in Sub-Saharan Africa peaked at 728,186 1000 ha in 1990 and was at its lowest, 618,897 1000 ha, in 2025.
That places Sub-Saharan Africa 10th out of 36 groups with data for 2025, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 36 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 713,866 1000 ha | 699,545 1000 ha | 728,186 1000 ha | 10 |
| 2000s | 681,259 1000 ha | 666,156 1000 ha | 696,363 1000 ha | 10 |
| 2010s | 650,384 1000 ha | 636,129 1000 ha | 662,800 1000 ha | 10 |
| 2020s | 625,954 1000 ha | 618,897 1000 ha | 633,011 1000 ha | 6 |
Countries ranked near Sub-Saharan Africa
More environment data for Sub-Saharan Africa
- 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)
- Permanent meadows and pastures — Share in Land area 31.93 % (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is naturally regenerating forest — area in Sub-Saharan Africa?
- Naturally regenerating forest — area in Sub-Saharan Africa was 618,897 1000 ha in 2025, according to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
- What is the highest naturally regenerating forest — area recorded in Sub-Saharan Africa?
- The highest recorded value was 728,186 1000 ha in 1990.
- What is the lowest naturally regenerating forest — area recorded in Sub-Saharan Africa?
- The lowest recorded value was 618,897 1000 ha in 2025.
- How does Sub-Saharan Africa rank for naturally regenerating forest — area?
- Sub-Saharan Africa ranks 10th out of 36 groups with data for 2025.
- Is naturally regenerating forest — area rising or falling in Sub-Saharan Africa?
- Over the last ten years it is down 4.6%. 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 Naturally regenerating forest — Area. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 36 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.