Share of global forest area in China
China: Share of global forest area was 5.5% in 2025. ▲ Rising
Share of global forest area in China, 1990–2025
Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in %.
Analysis
The most recent figure for share of global forest area in China is 5.5%, measured in 2025. 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 9.1% over ten years.
Over the whole period, share of global forest area in China peaked at 5.5% in 2025 and was at its lowest, 3.6%, in 1990.
China ranks 5th of 235 countries on this measure, 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 China, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1990 | 3.6% | — |
| 1991 | 3.7% | +1.5% |
| 1992 | 3.7% | +1.5% |
| 1993 | 3.8% | +1.5% |
| 1994 | 3.8% | +1.5% |
| 1995 | 3.9% | +1.5% |
| 1996 | 4.0% | +1.4% |
| 1997 | 4.0% | +1.4% |
| 1998 | 4.1% | +1.4% |
| 1999 | 4.1% | +1.4% |
| 2000 | 4.2% | +1.4% |
| 2001 | 4.2% | +1.4% |
| 2002 | 4.3% | +1.4% |
| 2003 | 4.4% | +1.4% |
| 2004 | 4.4% | +1.4% |
| 2005 | 4.5% | +1.4% |
| 2006 | 4.5% | +1.3% |
| 2007 | 4.6% | +1.3% |
| 2008 | 4.7% | +1.3% |
| 2009 | 4.7% | +1.3% |
| 2010 | 4.8% | +1.3% |
| 2011 | 4.8% | +1.1% |
| 2012 | 4.9% | +1.1% |
| 2013 | 4.9% | +1.0% |
| 2014 | 5.0% | +1.0% |
| 2015 | 5.0% | +1.0% |
| 2016 | 5.1% | +0.9% |
| 2017 | 5.1% | +0.9% |
| 2018 | 5.2% | +0.9% |
| 2019 | 5.2% | +0.9% |
| 2020 | 5.3% | +0.9% |
| 2021 | 5.3% | +0.9% |
| 2022 | 5.4% | +0.9% |
| 2023 | 5.4% | +0.8% |
| 2024 | 5.4% | +0.8% |
| 2025 | 5.5% | +0.8% |
China compared with similar countries
- China's 5.5% is above the median for upper middle income countries, which is 0.1%, 99.0× the median. (58 countries reporting)
- China's 5.5% is above the median for East Asia & Pacific, which is 0.0%, 199.9× the median. (35 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 3.9% | 3.6% | 4.1% | 10 |
| 2000s | 4.4% | 4.2% | 4.7% | 10 |
| 2010s | 5.0% | 4.8% | 5.2% | 10 |
| 2020s | 5.4% | 5.3% | 5.5% | 6 |
Countries ranked near China
More environment data for China
- Standard Deviation, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Standard Deviation 0.279 °C (2025)
- Temperature change 1.92 °C (2025)
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF (Mt CO2e), annual 0.8065 % 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 -0.2517 % change on previous year (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Agriculture (Mt CO2e), per unit of GDP 0 Mt CO2e per US$ of GDP (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Agriculture (Mt CO2e), per capita 0 Mt CO2e per person (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Building (Energy) (Mt CO2e), annual 0.9037 % change on previous year (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is share of global forest area in China?
- Share of global forest area in China was 5.5% 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 China?
- The highest recorded value was 5.5% in 2025.
- What is the lowest share of global forest area recorded in China?
- The lowest recorded value was 3.6% in 1990.
- How does China rank for share of global forest area?
- China ranks 5th out of 235 countries with data for 2025.
- Is share of global forest area rising or falling in China?
- Over the last ten years it is up 9.1%. 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 (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.