Primary Forest — Area in China

China: Primary Forest — Area was 12,953 1000 ha in 2025. ▲ Rising

Latest (2025)
12,953 1000 ha
Change on year
up 0.8%
World rank
14th
of 169 countries
All-time high
12,953 1000 ha
in 2025
All-time low
11,453 1000 ha
in 2000
Years of data
36
1990–2025

Primary Forest — Area in China, 1990–2025

05.0k10.0k15.0k1990200720251990: 11.6k 1000 ha1991: 11.6k 1000 ha1992: 11.6k 1000 ha1993: 11.6k 1000 ha1994: 11.6k 1000 ha1995: 11.5k 1000 ha1996: 11.5k 1000 ha1997: 11.5k 1000 ha1998: 11.5k 1000 ha1999: 11.5k 1000 ha2000: 11.5k 1000 ha2001: 11.5k 1000 ha2002: 11.5k 1000 ha2003: 11.5k 1000 ha2004: 11.5k 1000 ha2005: 11.5k 1000 ha2006: 11.5k 1000 ha2007: 11.5k 1000 ha2008: 11.5k 1000 ha2009: 11.5k 1000 ha2010: 11.5k 1000 ha2011: 11.6k 1000 ha2012: 11.7k 1000 ha2013: 11.8k 1000 ha2014: 11.9k 1000 ha2015: 12.0k 1000 ha2016: 12.1k 1000 ha2017: 12.2k 1000 ha2018: 12.3k 1000 ha2019: 12.4k 1000 ha2020: 12.5k 1000 ha2021: 12.6k 1000 ha2022: 12.7k 1000 ha2023: 12.8k 1000 ha2024: 12.9k 1000 ha2025: 13.0k 1000 ha

Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Measured in 1000 ha.

Analysis

In 2025, primary forest — area in China stood at 12,953 1000 ha. That is the highest value across all 36 years on record.

That represents a change of up 0.8% on the previous year and up 8.4% over ten years.

Over the whole period, primary forest — area in China peaked at 12,953 1000 ha in 2025 and was at its lowest, 11,453 1000 ha, in 2000.

China ranks 14th of 169 countries on this measure, in the top 10%.

The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 36 years of available data.

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1990s 11,559 1000 ha 11,472 1000 ha 11,646 1000 ha 10
2000s 11,453 1000 ha 11,453 1000 ha 11,453 1000 ha 10
2010s 11,903 1000 ha 11,453 1000 ha 12,353 1000 ha 10
2020s 12,703 1000 ha 12,453 1000 ha 12,953 1000 ha 6

Countries ranked near China

  1. 11 Papua New Guinea 19,444 1000 ha compare
  2. 12 Australia and New Zealand 17,092 1000 ha compare
  3. 13 Australia 15,092 1000 ha compare
  4. 14 China, mainland 12,953 1000 ha compare
  5. 16 Congo 12,931 1000 ha compare
  6. 17 India 11,904 1000 ha compare

See the full ranking of 204 places →

More environment data for China

All data for China →

Frequently asked questions

What is primary forest — area in China?
Primary forest — area in China was 12,953 1000 ha in 2025, according to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
What is the highest primary forest — area recorded in China?
The highest recorded value was 12,953 1000 ha in 2025.
What is the lowest primary forest — area recorded in China?
The lowest recorded value was 11,453 1000 ha in 2000.
How does China rank for primary forest — area?
China ranks 14th out of 169 countries with data for 2025.
Is primary forest — area rising or falling in China?
Over the last ten years it is up 8.4%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
Where does this China data come from?
The figures come from Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, published as part of Primary 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

Indicator
Primary Forest — Area
Unit
1000 ha
Source
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Licence
CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO (FAO)
Coverage
204 places, 7,156 data points, 1990–2025
Last refreshed

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.