Share of global forest area in South Africa
South Africa: Share of global forest area was 0.6% in 2025. ▲ Rising
Share of global forest area in South Africa, 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 South Africa is 0.6%, measured in 2025. That is the highest value across all 36 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is up 0.5% on the previous year and up 5.0% over ten years.
Over the whole period, share of global forest area in South Africa peaked at 0.6% in 2025 and was at its lowest, 0.5%, in 1990.
South Africa ranks 27th 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
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 0.5% | 0.5% | 0.5% | 10 |
| 2000s | 0.5% | 0.5% | 0.5% | 10 |
| 2010s | 0.5% | 0.5% | 0.5% | 10 |
| 2020s | 0.5% | 0.5% | 0.6% | 6 |
Countries ranked near South Africa
More environment data for South Africa
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF 569.81 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF per capita 8.9 t CO2e/capita (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Agriculture 25.85 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Building (Energy) 1.31 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Fugitive Emissions (Energy) 40 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Industrial Combustion (Energy) 0.1686 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions (total) excluding LULUCF 93.23 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Power Industry (Energy) 0.055 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Transport (Energy) 0.1946 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Waste 25.44 Mt CO2e (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is share of global forest area in South Africa?
- Share of global forest area in South Africa was 0.6% 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 South Africa?
- The highest recorded value was 0.6% in 2025.
- What is the lowest share of global forest area recorded in South Africa?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.5% in 1990.
- How does South Africa rank for share of global forest area?
- South Africa ranks 27th out of 235 countries with data for 2025.
- Is share of global forest area rising or falling in South Africa?
- Over the last ten years it is up 5.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this South Africa 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.