Primary Forest — Area in South America
South America: Primary Forest — Area was 298,609 1000 ha in 2025. ▼ Falling
Primary Forest — Area in South America, 1990–2025
Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Measured in 1000 ha.
Analysis
South America recorded 298,609 1000 ha for primary forest — area in 2025. That is the lowest value across all 36 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is down 0.3% on the previous year and down 3.4% over ten years.
Over the whole period, primary forest — area in South America peaked at 342,405 1000 ha in 1990 and was at its lowest, 298,609 1000 ha, in 2025.
South America ranks 6th of 35 groups on this measure, in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 36 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 336,454 1000 ha | 330,502 1000 ha | 342,405 1000 ha | 10 |
| 2000s | 321,942 1000 ha | 314,705 1000 ha | 329,180 1000 ha | 10 |
| 2010s | 309,116 1000 ha | 304,486 1000 ha | 313,097 1000 ha | 10 |
| 2020s | 300,979 1000 ha | 298,609 1000 ha | 303,349 1000 ha | 6 |
Countries ranked near South America
More environment data for South America
- Nutrient potash K2O (total) — Import quantity 9.92 million t (2024)
- Nutrient phosphate P2O5 (total) — Import quantity 5.95 million t (2024)
- Nutrient phosphate P2O5 (total) — Agricultural Use 7.77 million t (2024)
- Nutrient phosphate P2O5 (total) — Use per area of cropland 53.52 kg/ha (2024)
- Nutrient phosphate P2O5 (total) — Use per capita 17.83 kg/cap (2024)
- Nutrient phosphate P2O5 (total) — Use per value of agricultural 17.62 g/Int$ (2024)
- Nutrient potash K2O (total) — Use per area of cropland 69.43 kg/ha (2024)
- Nutrient potash K2O (total) — Use per value of agricultural production 22.86 g/Int$ (2024)
- Value Added Deflator (Agriculture, forestry and fishery) — Value US$ 125.18 USD (2024)
- Nutrient nitrogen N (total) — Use per value of agricultural production 22.62 g/Int$ (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is primary forest — area in South America?
- Primary forest — area in South America was 298,609 1000 ha in 2025, according to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
- What is the highest primary forest — area recorded in South America?
- The highest recorded value was 342,405 1000 ha in 1990.
- What is the lowest primary forest — area recorded in South America?
- The lowest recorded value was 298,609 1000 ha in 2025.
- How does South America rank for primary forest — area?
- South America ranks 6th out of 35 groups with data for 2025.
- Is primary forest — area rising or falling in South America?
- Over the last ten years it is down 3.4%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this South America 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
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.