Share of global forest area in Democratic Republic of Congo

Democratic Republic of Congo: Share of global forest area was 3.4% in 2025. ▼ Falling

Latest (2025)
3.4%
Change on year
down 0.1%
World rank
6th
of 235 countries
All-time high
3.7%
in 1990
All-time low
3.4%
in 2025
Years of data
36
1990–2025

Share of global forest area in Democratic Republic of Congo, 1990–2025

012341990200720251990: 3.7 %1991: 3.7 %1992: 3.7 %1993: 3.7 %1994: 3.7 %1995: 3.7 %1996: 3.7 %1997: 3.7 %1998: 3.6 %1999: 3.6 %2000: 3.6 %2001: 3.6 %2002: 3.6 %2003: 3.6 %2004: 3.6 %2005: 3.6 %2006: 3.6 %2007: 3.5 %2008: 3.5 %2009: 3.5 %2010: 3.5 %2011: 3.5 %2012: 3.5 %2013: 3.4 %2014: 3.4 %2015: 3.4 %2016: 3.4 %2017: 3.4 %2018: 3.4 %2019: 3.4 %2020: 3.4 %2021: 3.4 %2022: 3.4 %2023: 3.4 %2024: 3.4 %2025: 3.4 %

Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in %.

Analysis

Democratic Republic of Congo recorded 3.4% for share of global forest area in 2025. That is the lowest value across all 36 years on record.

The figure is down 0.1% on the previous year and down 1.0% over ten years.

Over the whole period, share of global forest area in Democratic Republic of Congo peaked at 3.7% in 1990 and was at its lowest, 3.4%, in 2025.

That places Democratic Republic of Congo 6th out of 235 countries with data for 2025, putting it in the top 10%.

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

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1990s 3.7% 3.6% 3.7% 10
2000s 3.6% 3.5% 3.6% 10
2010s 3.4% 3.4% 3.5% 10
2020s 3.4% 3.4% 3.4% 6

Countries ranked near Democratic Republic of Congo

  1. 3 Canada 8.9% compare
  2. 4 United States 7.5% compare
  3. 5 China 5.5% compare
  4. 7 Australia 3.2% compare
  5. 8 Indonesia 2.3% compare
  6. 9 India 1.8% compare

See the full ranking of 235 places →

More environment data for Democratic Republic of Congo

All data for Democratic Republic of Congo →

Frequently asked questions

What is share of global forest area in Democratic Republic of Congo?
Share of global forest area in Democratic Republic of Congo was 3.4% 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 Democratic Republic of Congo?
The highest recorded value was 3.7% in 1990.
What is the lowest share of global forest area recorded in Democratic Republic of Congo?
The lowest recorded value was 3.4% in 2025.
How does Democratic Republic of Congo rank for share of global forest area?
Democratic Republic of Congo ranks 6th out of 235 countries with data for 2025.
Is share of global forest area rising or falling in Democratic Republic of Congo?
Over the last ten years it is down 1.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
Where does this Democratic Republic of Congo 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

Indicator
Share of global forest area
Unit
%
Source
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
235 places, 8,460 data points, 1990–2025
Last refreshed

Share of global forest area represents the proportion of a country's forest area relative to the total global forest area.