Share of global forest area in United States
United States: Share of global forest area was 7.5% in 2025. ▲ Rising
Share of global forest area in United States, 1990–2025
Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in %.
Analysis
United States recorded 7.5% for share of global forest area in 2025. That is the highest value across all 36 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is up 0.1% on the previous year and up 0.6% over ten years.
Over the whole period, share of global forest area in United States peaked at 7.5% in 2025 and was at its lowest, 7.0%, in 1990.
That places United States 4th out of 235 countries with data for 2025, putting it in the top 10%.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 36 years of available data.
Share of global forest area in United States, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1990 | 7.0% | — |
| 1991 | 7.0% | +0.3% |
| 1992 | 7.0% | +0.3% |
| 1993 | 7.0% | +0.3% |
| 1994 | 7.0% | +0.3% |
| 1995 | 7.1% | +0.3% |
| 1996 | 7.1% | +0.3% |
| 1997 | 7.1% | +0.3% |
| 1998 | 7.1% | +0.3% |
| 1999 | 7.1% | +0.3% |
| 2000 | 7.2% | +0.3% |
| 2001 | 7.2% | +0.3% |
| 2002 | 7.2% | +0.3% |
| 2003 | 7.2% | +0.3% |
| 2004 | 7.2% | +0.3% |
| 2005 | 7.3% | +0.3% |
| 2006 | 7.3% | +0.3% |
| 2007 | 7.3% | +0.3% |
| 2008 | 7.3% | +0.3% |
| 2009 | 7.3% | +0.3% |
| 2010 | 7.3% | +0.3% |
| 2011 | 7.4% | +0.2% |
| 2012 | 7.4% | +0.2% |
| 2013 | 7.4% | +0.2% |
| 2014 | 7.4% | +0.2% |
| 2015 | 7.4% | +0.2% |
| 2016 | 7.4% | +0.0% |
| 2017 | 7.4% | +0.0% |
| 2018 | 7.4% | +0.0% |
| 2019 | 7.4% | +0.0% |
| 2020 | 7.4% | +0.0% |
| 2021 | 7.4% | +0.1% |
| 2022 | 7.4% | +0.1% |
| 2023 | 7.4% | +0.1% |
| 2024 | 7.5% | +0.1% |
| 2025 | 7.5% | +0.1% |
United States compared with similar countries
- United States's 7.5% is above the median for high income countries, which is 0.0%, 708.4× the median. (83 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 7.1% | 7.0% | 7.1% | 10 |
| 2000s | 7.2% | 7.2% | 7.3% | 10 |
| 2010s | 7.4% | 7.3% | 7.4% | 10 |
| 2020s | 7.4% | 7.4% | 7.5% | 6 |
Countries ranked near United States
More environment data for United States
- Historical exposure to drought — Land soil moisture anomaly -2.64 Percentage change (2025)
- Historical exposure to drought — Cropland soil moisture anomaly -2.16 Percentage change (2025)
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF (Mt CO2e), annual 0.3672 % 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 -0.624 % change on previous year (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Agriculture (Mt CO2e), per unit of GDP 0 Mt CO2e per US$ of GDP (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Agriculture (Mt CO2e), per capita 0 Mt CO2e per person (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Building (Energy) (Mt CO2e), annual 0.1269 % change on previous year (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Building (Energy) (Mt CO2e), per unit of 0 Mt CO2e per US$ of GDP (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is share of global forest area in United States?
- Share of global forest area in United States was 7.5% 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 United States?
- The highest recorded value was 7.5% in 2025.
- What is the lowest share of global forest area recorded in United States?
- The lowest recorded value was 7.0% in 1990.
- How does United States rank for share of global forest area?
- United States ranks 4th out of 235 countries with data for 2025.
- Is share of global forest area rising or falling in United States?
- Over the last ten years it is up 0.6%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this United States 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.