Primary Forest — Area in Middle Africa

Middle Africa: Primary Forest — Area was 148,972 1000 ha in 2025. ▼ Falling

Latest (2025)
148,972 1000 ha
Change on year
down 0.3%
Rank
11th
of 35 groups
All-time high
171,132 1000 ha
in 1990
All-time low
148,972 1000 ha
in 2025
Years of data
36
1990–2025

Primary Forest — Area in Middle Africa, 1990–2025

050.0k100.0k150.0k1990200720251990: 171.1k 1000 ha1991: 170.5k 1000 ha1992: 170.0k 1000 ha1993: 169.4k 1000 ha1994: 168.8k 1000 ha1995: 168.2k 1000 ha1996: 167.6k 1000 ha1997: 167.0k 1000 ha1998: 166.5k 1000 ha1999: 165.9k 1000 ha2000: 165.3k 1000 ha2001: 164.6k 1000 ha2002: 163.9k 1000 ha2003: 163.1k 1000 ha2004: 162.4k 1000 ha2005: 161.7k 1000 ha2006: 161.0k 1000 ha2007: 160.3k 1000 ha2008: 159.5k 1000 ha2009: 158.8k 1000 ha2010: 158.1k 1000 ha2011: 157.1k 1000 ha2012: 156.2k 1000 ha2013: 155.2k 1000 ha2014: 154.3k 1000 ha2015: 153.3k 1000 ha2016: 152.9k 1000 ha2017: 152.5k 1000 ha2018: 152.0k 1000 ha2019: 151.6k 1000 ha2020: 151.1k 1000 ha2021: 150.7k 1000 ha2022: 150.3k 1000 ha2023: 149.8k 1000 ha2024: 149.4k 1000 ha2025: 149.0k 1000 ha

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

Analysis

Middle Africa recorded 148,972 1000 ha for primary forest — area in 2025. That is the lowest value across all 36 years on record.

That represents a change of down 0.3% on the previous year and down 2.9% over ten years.

Over the whole period, primary forest — area in Middle Africa peaked at 171,132 1000 ha in 1990 and was at its lowest, 148,972 1000 ha, in 2025.

That places Middle Africa 11th out of 35 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

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1990s 168,507 1000 ha 165,881 1000 ha 171,132 1000 ha 10
2000s 162,058 1000 ha 158,819 1000 ha 165,298 1000 ha 10
2010s 154,325 1000 ha 151,566 1000 ha 158,099 1000 ha 10
2020s 150,047 1000 ha 148,972 1000 ha 151,121 1000 ha 6

Countries ranked near Middle Africa

  1. 8 Mexico 33,046 1000 ha compare
  2. 9 Angola 24,663 1000 ha compare
  3. 10 Melanesia 21,424 1000 ha compare
  4. 11 Papua New Guinea 19,444 1000 ha compare
  5. 12 Australia and New Zealand 17,092 1000 ha compare
  6. 13 Australia 15,092 1000 ha compare
  7. 14 China 12,953 1000 ha compare
  8. 14 China, mainland 12,953 1000 ha compare

See the full ranking of 204 places →

More environment data for Middle Africa

All data for Middle Africa →

Frequently asked questions

What is primary forest — area in Middle Africa?
Primary forest — area in Middle Africa was 148,972 1000 ha in 2025, according to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
What is the highest primary forest — area recorded in Middle Africa?
The highest recorded value was 171,132 1000 ha in 1990.
What is the lowest primary forest — area recorded in Middle Africa?
The lowest recorded value was 148,972 1000 ha in 2025.
How does Middle Africa rank for primary forest — area?
Middle Africa ranks 11th out of 35 groups with data for 2025.
Is primary forest — area rising or falling in Middle Africa?
Over the last ten years it is down 2.9%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
Where does this Middle Africa 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.