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 32 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.
Naturally regenerating forest — Area in Sub-Saharan Africa, year by year
| Year | 1000 ha | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1990 | 728,186 1000 ha | — |
| 1991 | 725,004 1000 ha | -0.4% |
| 1992 | 721,822 1000 ha | -0.4% |
| 1993 | 718,639 1000 ha | -0.4% |
| 1994 | 715,457 1000 ha | -0.4% |
| 1995 | 712,275 1000 ha | -0.4% |
| 1996 | 709,092 1000 ha | -0.4% |
| 1997 | 705,910 1000 ha | -0.4% |
| 1998 | 702,728 1000 ha | -0.5% |
| 1999 | 699,545 1000 ha | -0.5% |
| 2000 | 696,363 1000 ha | -0.5% |
| 2001 | 693,007 1000 ha | -0.5% |
| 2002 | 689,650 1000 ha | -0.5% |
| 2003 | 686,294 1000 ha | -0.5% |
| 2004 | 682,938 1000 ha | -0.5% |
| 2005 | 679,581 1000 ha | -0.5% |
| 2006 | 676,225 1000 ha | -0.5% |
| 2007 | 672,868 1000 ha | -0.5% |
| 2008 | 669,512 1000 ha | -0.5% |
| 2009 | 666,156 1000 ha | -0.5% |
| 2010 | 662,800 1000 ha | -0.5% |
| 2011 | 658,672 1000 ha | -0.6% |
| 2012 | 660,972 1000 ha | +0.3% |
| 2013 | 656,849 1000 ha | -0.6% |
| 2014 | 652,725 1000 ha | -0.6% |
| 2015 | 648,601 1000 ha | -0.6% |
| 2016 | 645,483 1000 ha | -0.5% |
| 2017 | 642,365 1000 ha | -0.5% |
| 2018 | 639,247 1000 ha | -0.5% |
| 2019 | 636,129 1000 ha | -0.5% |
| 2020 | 633,011 1000 ha | -0.5% |
| 2021 | 630,188 1000 ha | -0.4% |
| 2022 | 627,365 1000 ha | -0.4% |
| 2023 | 624,542 1000 ha | -0.4% |
| 2024 | 621,719 1000 ha | -0.5% |
| 2025 | 618,897 1000 ha | -0.5% |
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
- 7 Australia and New Zealand 139,374 1000 ha compare
- 8 Democratic Republic of the Congo 139,058 1000 ha compare
- 9 China 134,550 1000 ha compare
- 9 China, mainland 134,550 1000 ha compare
- 11 Australia 131,504 1000 ha compare
- 12 Indonesia 90,485 1000 ha compare
- 13 Peru 66,969 1000 ha compare
More environment data for Sub-Saharan Africa
- Standard Deviation, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Historical exposure to drought — Cropland soil moisture anomaly -6.36 Percentage change (2025)
- Historical exposure to drought — Land soil moisture anomaly -7.11 Percentage change (2025)
- Standard Deviation 0.223 °C (2025)
- Temperature change 1.21 °C (2025)
- Aquaculture production 904,662 metric tons (2024)
- Carbon intensity of GDP 0.4396 kg CO2e per constant 2015 US$ of GDP (2024)
- Nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions from Waste 13.02 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions from Power Industry (Energy) 2.29 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions (total) excluding LULUCF 305.43 Mt CO2e (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 32 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.