Share of global forest area in Canada
Canada: Share of global forest area was 8.9% in 2025. ▲ Rising
Share of global forest area in Canada, 1990–2025
Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in %.
Analysis
Canada recorded 8.9% for share of global forest area in 2025. That is the highest value across all 36 years on record.
That represents a change of up 0.1% on the previous year and up 1.2% over ten years.
Over the whole period, share of global forest area in Canada peaked at 8.9% in 2025 and was at its lowest, 8.3%, in 1990.
That places Canada 3rd out of 235 countries with data for 2025, putting it in the top 10%.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 36 years of available data.
Share of global forest area in Canada, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1990 | 8.3% | — |
| 1991 | 8.3% | +0.2% |
| 1992 | 8.3% | +0.2% |
| 1993 | 8.4% | +0.2% |
| 1994 | 8.4% | +0.2% |
| 1995 | 8.4% | +0.2% |
| 1996 | 8.4% | +0.2% |
| 1997 | 8.4% | +0.2% |
| 1998 | 8.5% | +0.2% |
| 1999 | 8.5% | +0.2% |
| 2000 | 8.5% | +0.2% |
| 2001 | 8.5% | +0.2% |
| 2002 | 8.5% | +0.2% |
| 2003 | 8.6% | +0.2% |
| 2004 | 8.6% | +0.2% |
| 2005 | 8.6% | +0.2% |
| 2006 | 8.6% | +0.2% |
| 2007 | 8.6% | +0.2% |
| 2008 | 8.7% | +0.2% |
| 2009 | 8.7% | +0.2% |
| 2010 | 8.7% | +0.2% |
| 2011 | 8.7% | +0.2% |
| 2012 | 8.7% | +0.2% |
| 2013 | 8.8% | +0.2% |
| 2014 | 8.8% | +0.2% |
| 2015 | 8.8% | +0.2% |
| 2016 | 8.8% | +0.1% |
| 2017 | 8.8% | +0.1% |
| 2018 | 8.8% | +0.1% |
| 2019 | 8.8% | +0.1% |
| 2020 | 8.9% | +0.1% |
| 2021 | 8.9% | +0.1% |
| 2022 | 8.9% | +0.1% |
| 2023 | 8.9% | +0.1% |
| 2024 | 8.9% | +0.1% |
| 2025 | 8.9% | +0.1% |
Canada compared with similar countries
- Canada's 8.9% is above the median for high income countries, which is 0.0%, 845.8× the median. (83 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 8.4% | 8.3% | 8.5% | 10 |
| 2000s | 8.6% | 8.5% | 8.7% | 10 |
| 2010s | 8.8% | 8.7% | 8.8% | 10 |
| 2020s | 8.9% | 8.9% | 8.9% | 6 |
Countries ranked near Canada
- 1 Russia 20.1% compare
- 2 Brazil 11.7% compare
- 4 United States 7.5% compare
- 5 China 5.5% compare
- 6 Democratic Republic of Congo 3.4% compare
More environment data for Canada
- Historical exposure to drought — Land soil moisture anomaly -2.52 Percentage change (2025)
- Historical exposure to drought — Cropland soil moisture anomaly -6.76 Percentage change (2025)
- Standard Deviation, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Standard Deviation 0.642 °C (2025)
- Temperature change 2.96 °C (2025)
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF (Mt CO2e), annual 1.7 % change on previous year (2024)
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF (Mt CO2e), per unit 0 Mt CO2e per US$ of GDP (2024)
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF (Mt CO2e), per capita 0 Mt CO2e per person (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Agriculture (Mt CO2e), annual growth rate -0.3398 % change on previous year (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Agriculture (Mt CO2e), per unit of GDP 0 Mt CO2e per US$ of GDP (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is share of global forest area in Canada?
- Share of global forest area in Canada was 8.9% in 2025, according to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest share of global forest area recorded in Canada?
- The highest recorded value was 8.9% in 2025.
- What is the lowest share of global forest area recorded in Canada?
- The lowest recorded value was 8.3% in 1990.
- How does Canada rank for share of global forest area?
- Canada ranks 3rd out of 235 countries with data for 2025.
- Is share of global forest area rising or falling in Canada?
- Over the last ten years it is up 1.2%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Canada data come from?
- The figures come from Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Share of global forest area. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 36 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Share of global forest area represents the proportion of a country's forest area relative to the total global forest area.