Share of global forest area in New Zealand

New Zealand: Share of global forest area was 0.2% in 2025. ▲ Rising

Latest (2025)
0.2%
Change on year
up 0.8%
World rank
52nd
of 235 countries
All-time high
0.2%
in 2025
All-time low
0.2%
in 1990
Years of data
36
1990–2025

Share of global forest area in New Zealand, 1990–2025

00.050.10.150.20.251990200720251990: 0.216 %1991: 0.217 %1992: 0.219 %1993: 0.221 %1994: 0.222 %1995: 0.224 %1996: 0.226 %1997: 0.227 %1998: 0.229 %1999: 0.231 %2000: 0.233 %2001: 0.233 %2002: 0.233 %2003: 0.233 %2004: 0.233 %2005: 0.233 %2006: 0.234 %2007: 0.234 %2008: 0.234 %2009: 0.234 %2010: 0.234 %2011: 0.235 %2012: 0.235 %2013: 0.235 %2014: 0.235 %2015: 0.235 %2016: 0.236 %2017: 0.237 %2018: 0.238 %2019: 0.238 %2020: 0.239 %2021: 0.241 %2022: 0.243 %2023: 0.245 %2024: 0.247 %2025: 0.249 %

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

Analysis

In 2025, share of global forest area in New Zealand stood at 0.2%. That is the highest value across all 36 years on record.

Compared with earlier readings it is up 0.8% on the previous year and up 5.7% over ten years.

Over the whole period, share of global forest area in New Zealand peaked at 0.2% in 2025 and was at its lowest, 0.2%, in 1990.

New Zealand ranks 52nd of 235 countries on this measure, in the top quarter.

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

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1990s 0.2% 0.2% 0.2% 10
2000s 0.2% 0.2% 0.2% 10
2010s 0.2% 0.2% 0.2% 10
2020s 0.2% 0.2% 0.2% 6

Countries ranked near New Zealand

  1. 49 Germany 0.3% compare
  2. 50 Iran 0.3% compare
  3. 51 Mali 0.3% compare
  4. 53 Ukraine 0.2% compare
  5. 54 Madagascar 0.2% compare
  6. 55 Poland 0.2% compare

See the full ranking of 235 places →

More environment data for New Zealand

All data for New Zealand →

Frequently asked questions

What is share of global forest area in New Zealand?
Share of global forest area in New Zealand was 0.2% 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 New Zealand?
The highest recorded value was 0.2% in 2025.
What is the lowest share of global forest area recorded in New Zealand?
The lowest recorded value was 0.2% in 1990.
How does New Zealand rank for share of global forest area?
New Zealand ranks 52nd out of 235 countries with data for 2025.
Is share of global forest area rising or falling in New Zealand?
Over the last ten years it is up 5.7%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
Where does this New Zealand 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.