Share of global forest area in Nigeria
Nigeria: Share of global forest area was 0.4% in 2025. ▼ Falling
Share of global forest area in Nigeria, 1990–2025
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 Nigeria stood at 0.4%. That is the lowest value across all 36 years on record.
The figure is down 0.6% on the previous year and down 6.0% over ten years.
Over the whole period, share of global forest area in Nigeria peaked at 0.5% in 1990 and was at its lowest, 0.4%, in 2025.
That places Nigeria 39th out of 235 countries with data for 2025, putting it in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 36 years of available data.
Share of global forest area in Nigeria, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1990 | 0.5% | — |
| 1991 | 0.5% | -0.3% |
| 1992 | 0.5% | -0.3% |
| 1993 | 0.5% | -0.3% |
| 1994 | 0.5% | -0.4% |
| 1995 | 0.5% | -0.4% |
| 1996 | 0.5% | -0.4% |
| 1997 | 0.5% | -0.4% |
| 1998 | 0.5% | -0.4% |
| 1999 | 0.5% | -0.4% |
| 2000 | 0.5% | -0.4% |
| 2001 | 0.5% | -0.5% |
| 2002 | 0.5% | -0.5% |
| 2003 | 0.5% | -0.5% |
| 2004 | 0.5% | -0.6% |
| 2005 | 0.5% | -0.6% |
| 2006 | 0.5% | -0.6% |
| 2007 | 0.5% | -0.6% |
| 2008 | 0.5% | -0.6% |
| 2009 | 0.5% | -0.6% |
| 2010 | 0.5% | -0.6% |
| 2011 | 0.5% | -0.6% |
| 2012 | 0.4% | -0.6% |
| 2013 | 0.4% | -0.6% |
| 2014 | 0.4% | -0.6% |
| 2015 | 0.4% | -0.6% |
| 2016 | 0.4% | -0.6% |
| 2017 | 0.4% | -0.6% |
| 2018 | 0.4% | -0.6% |
| 2019 | 0.4% | -0.6% |
| 2020 | 0.4% | -0.6% |
| 2021 | 0.4% | -0.6% |
| 2022 | 0.4% | -0.6% |
| 2023 | 0.4% | -0.6% |
| 2024 | 0.4% | -0.6% |
| 2025 | 0.4% | -0.6% |
Nigeria compared with similar countries
- Nigeria's 0.4% is above the median for lower middle income countries, which is 0.1%, 4.4× the median. (47 countries reporting)
- Nigeria's 0.4% is above the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 0.1%, 3.9× the median. (48 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 0.5% | 0.5% | 0.5% | 10 |
| 2000s | 0.5% | 0.5% | 0.5% | 10 |
| 2010s | 0.4% | 0.4% | 0.5% | 10 |
| 2020s | 0.4% | 0.4% | 0.4% | 6 |
Countries ranked near Nigeria
More environment data for Nigeria
- Historical exposure to drought — Land soil moisture anomaly -5.73 Percentage change (2025)
- Historical exposure to drought — Cropland soil moisture anomaly -5.07 Percentage change (2025)
- Standard Deviation, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Standard Deviation 0.281 °C (2025)
- Temperature change 1.15 °C (2025)
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF (Mt CO2e), annual 3.78 % 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 0.4617 % 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 Nigeria?
- Share of global forest area in Nigeria was 0.4% 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 Nigeria?
- The highest recorded value was 0.5% in 1990.
- What is the lowest share of global forest area recorded in Nigeria?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.4% in 2025.
- How does Nigeria rank for share of global forest area?
- Nigeria ranks 39th out of 235 countries with data for 2025.
- Is share of global forest area rising or falling in Nigeria?
- Over the last ten years it is down 6.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Nigeria 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.