Share global forest in South Africa
South Africa: Share global forest was 0.5527 in 2025. ▲ Rising
Latest (2025)
0.5527
Change on year
up 0.5%
World rank
27th
of 235 countries
All-time high
0.5527
in 2025
All-time low
0.4562
in 1990
Years of data
36
1990–2025
Share global forest in South Africa, 1990–2025
Source: Our World in Data.
Analysis
The most recent figure for share global forest in South Africa is 0.5527, 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 global forest in South Africa peaked at 0.5527 in 2025 and was at its lowest, 0.4562, 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.
Share global forest in South Africa, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1990 | 0.4562 | — |
| 1991 | 0.4594 | +0.7% |
| 1992 | 0.4625 | +0.7% |
| 1993 | 0.4657 | +0.7% |
| 1994 | 0.4689 | +0.7% |
| 1995 | 0.4721 | +0.7% |
| 1996 | 0.4753 | +0.7% |
| 1997 | 0.4786 | +0.7% |
| 1998 | 0.4819 | +0.7% |
| 1999 | 0.4851 | +0.7% |
| 2000 | 0.4884 | +0.7% |
| 2001 | 0.4909 | +0.5% |
| 2002 | 0.4934 | +0.5% |
| 2003 | 0.4959 | +0.5% |
| 2004 | 0.4984 | +0.5% |
| 2005 | 0.5009 | +0.5% |
| 2006 | 0.5034 | +0.5% |
| 2007 | 0.5059 | +0.5% |
| 2008 | 0.5084 | +0.5% |
| 2009 | 0.5109 | +0.5% |
| 2010 | 0.5134 | +0.5% |
| 2011 | 0.516 | +0.5% |
| 2012 | 0.5185 | +0.5% |
| 2013 | 0.5211 | +0.5% |
| 2014 | 0.5237 | +0.5% |
| 2015 | 0.5263 | +0.5% |
| 2016 | 0.5288 | +0.5% |
| 2017 | 0.5313 | +0.5% |
| 2018 | 0.5338 | +0.5% |
| 2019 | 0.5363 | +0.5% |
| 2020 | 0.5388 | +0.5% |
| 2021 | 0.5416 | +0.5% |
| 2022 | 0.5443 | +0.5% |
| 2023 | 0.5471 | +0.5% |
| 2024 | 0.5499 | +0.5% |
| 2025 | 0.5527 | +0.5% |
South Africa compared with similar countries
- South Africa's 0.5527 is above the median for upper middle income countries, which is 0.0554, 10.0× the median. (58 countries reporting)
- South Africa's 0.5527 is above the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 0.1056, 5.2× the median. (48 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 0.4706 | 0.4562 | 0.4851 | 10 |
| 2000s | 0.4996 | 0.4884 | 0.5109 | 10 |
| 2010s | 0.5249 | 0.5134 | 0.5363 | 10 |
| 2020s | 0.5457 | 0.5388 | 0.5527 | 6 |
Countries ranked near South Africa
More environment data for South Africa
- Grazing land use over the long-term, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Grazing land use over the long-term, per unit of GDP 0.0002 hectares per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Grazing land use over the long-term, per capita 1.3 hectares per person (2025)
- Historical exposure to drought — Land soil moisture anomaly 5.46 Percentage change (2025)
- Historical exposure to drought — Cropland soil moisture anomaly 8.52 Percentage change (2025)
- Standard Deviation, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Standard Deviation 0.275 °C (2025)
- Temperature change 1.05 °C (2025)
- Grazing land use over the long-term, per square kilometre 69.19 hectares per square kilometre (2024)
- Sawnwood, coniferous — Production, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is share global forest in South Africa?
- Share global forest in South Africa was 0.5527 in 2025, according to Our World in Data.
- What is the highest share global forest recorded in South Africa?
- The highest recorded value was 0.5527 in 2025.
- What is the lowest share global forest recorded in South Africa?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.4562 in 1990.
- How does South Africa rank for share global forest?
- South Africa ranks 27th out of 235 countries with data for 2025.
- Is share global forest 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 Our World in Data, published as part of Share global forest. 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).