According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), forests cover 31 percent of the global land area. This is equivalent to about 4.06 billion hectares of forest land. The share of forest area varies by region, with Europe having the largest share (25%), followed by South America (20%) and Africa (16%).
Some additional facts about global forests are:
- Approximately half the forest area is relatively intact, and more than one-third is primary forest (i.e. naturally regenerated forests of native species, where there are no visible indications of human activities and the ecological processes are not significantly disturbed).
- The global number of trees is estimated to be around 3.04 trillion, with an average of 422 trees per person.
- Over 15 billion trees are cut down each year, and the global number of trees has fallen by almost half (46%) since the start of human civilization.
- Forests provide many ecosystem services, such as carbon sequestration, biodiversity conservation, water regulation, soil protection, and livelihood support.
Countries Forest Coverage Insights (till 2020)
- Suriname – 97.4%
- Guyana – 93.6%
- Gabon – 91.3%
- Solomon Islands – 90.1%
- Palau – 90.0%
- Equatorial Guinea – 87.3%
- American Samoa – 85.6%
- Papua New Guinea – 79.2%
- Liberia – 79.1%
- Pitcairn – 74.5%
- Finland – 73.7%
- Seychelles – 73.3%
- Saint Vincent and the Grenadines – 73.2%
- Niue – 72.6%
- Brunei – 72.1%
- Laos – 71.9%
- Bhutan – 71.4%
- Guinea-Bissau – 70.4%
- Sweden – 68.7%
- Japan – 68.4%
- Cook Islands – 65.0%
- South Korea – 64.5%
- Congo – 64.3%
- Dominica – 63.8%
- Fiji – 62.4%
- East Timor – 61.9%
- Montenegro – 61.5%
- Slovenia – 61.5%
- Anguilla – 61.1%
- Zambia – 60.3%
- Costa Rica – 59.4%
- Brazil – 59.4%
- Malaysia – 58.2%
- Samoa – 57.1%
- United States Virgin Islands – 56.9%
- Panama – 56.9%
- Honduras – 56.8%
- Peru – 56.5%
- Estonia – 56.1%
- Belize – 56.0%
- Puerto Rico – 56.0%
- Democratic Republic of Congo – 55.6%
- Jamaica – 55.1%
- Latvia – 54.9%
- Sao Tome and Principe – 54.1%
- Angola – 53.4%
- Colombia – 53.3%
- Cayman Islands – 53.0%
- Northern Mariana Islands – 53.0%
- Venezuela – 52.4%
- Marshall Islands – 52.2%
- Grenada – 52.1%
- Guam – 51.9%
- Tanzania – 51.6%
- Bahamas – 50.9%
- Ecuador – 50.3%
- North Korea – 50.1%
- Russia – 49.8%
- Martinique – 49.3%
- Indonesia – 49.1%
- Austria – 47.3%
- Vietnam – 47.2%
- Bolivia – 46.9%
- Mozambique – 46.7%
- New Caledonia – 45.8%
- Cambodia – 45.7%
- Zimbabwe – 45.1%
- Trinidad and Tobago – 44.5%
- Guadeloupe – 44.4%
- Dominican Republic – 44.4%
- Myanmar – 43.7%
- Belarus – 43.2%
- Cameroon – 43.0%
- Bosnia and Herzegovina – 42.7%
- Saint Kitts and Nevis – 42.3%
- Senegal – 41.9%
- Liechtenstein – 41.9%
- Nepal – 41.6%
- French Polynesia – 40.8%
- Georgia – 40.6%
- Paraguay – 40.5%
- Slovakia – 40.1%
- North Macedonia – 39.7%
- Thailand – 38.9%
- Canada – 38.7%
- New Zealand – 37.6%
- Spain – 37.2%
- Mayotte – 37.1%
- Luxembourg – 36.5%
- Vanuatu – 36.3%
- Portugal – 36.2%
- Bulgaria – 35.9%
- Central African Republic – 35.8%
- Lithuania – 35.1%
- Sierra Leone 35.1%
- Ghana – 35.1%
- Czechia – 34.7%
- Croatia – 34.3%
- Sri Lanka – 34.1%
- Saint Lucia – 34.0%
- Andorra – 34.0%
- United States – 33.9%
- Mexico – 33.8%
- Norway – 33.4%
- Tuvalu – 33.3%
- Guatemala – 32.9%
- Germany – 32.7%
- Italy – 32.5%
- Switzerland – 32.1%
- France – 31.5%
- Cuba – 31.2%
- Serbia – 31.1%
- Poland – 31.0%
- Greece – 30.3%
- Romania – 30.1%
- Eswatini – 28.9%
- Turkey – 28.9%
- Albania – 28.8%
- Nicaragua – 28.3%
- El Salvador – 28.2%
- Benin – 27.8%
- Botswana – 26.9%
- Guinea – 25.2%
- Montserrat – 25.0%
- Chile – 24.5%
- India – 24.3%
- British Virgin Islands – 24.1%
- Philippines – 24.1%
- Gambia – 24.0%
- Malawi – 23.8%
- Nigeria – 23.7%
- China – 23.4%
- Belgium – 22.8%
- Burkina Faso – 22.7%
- Hungary – 22.5%
- Togo – 22.2%
- Singapore – 22.0%
- Madagascar – 21.4%
- Mauritius – 19.1%
- Cyprus – 18.7%
- Bermuda – 18.5%
- Antigua and Barbuda – 18.5%
- Comoros – 17.7%
- Australia – 17.4%
- Ukraine – 16.7%
- San Marino – 16.7%
- Denmark – 15.7%
- Ethiopia – 15.1%
- Barbados – 14.7%
- Bangladesh – 14.5%
- South Africa – 14.1%
- Lebanon – 14.0%
- Azerbaijan – 13.7%
- United Kingdom – 13.2%
- Morocco – 12.9%
- Haiti – 12.6%
- Tonga – 12.4%
- Norfolk Island – 12.3%
- Moldova – 11.8%
- Uganda – 11.7%
- Uruguay – 11.6%
- Armenia – 11.5%
- Ireland – 11.4%
- Cape Verde – 11.3%
- South Sudan – 11.3%
- Rwanda – 11.2%
- Turks and Caicos Islands – 11.1%
- Netherlands – 11.0%
- Mali – 10.9%
- Burundi – 10.9%
- Sint Maarten (Dutch part) – 10.9%
- Eritrea – 10.4%
- Argentina – 10.4%
- Sudan – 9.9%
- Somalia – 9.5%
- Mongolia – 9.1%
- Turkmenistan – 8.8%
- Uzbekistan – 8.4%
- Namibia – 8.1%
- Kyrgyzstan – 6.9%
- Iran – 6.6%
- Israel – 6.5%
- Kenya – 6.3%
- Isle of Man – 6.1%
- Saint Pierre and Miquelon – 5.3%
- Saint Helena – 5.1%
- Pakistan – 4.8%
- Tunisia – 4.5%
- United Arab Emirates 4.5%
- Chad – 3.4%
- Tajikistan – 3.1%
- Syria – 2.8%
- Maldives – 2.7%
- Western Sahara – 2.5%
- Aruba – 2.3%
- Iraq – 1.9%
- Afghanistan – 1.9%
- Palestine – 1.7%
- Kiribati – 1.5%
- Malta – 1.4%
- Kazakhstan – 1.3%
- Lesotho – 1.1%
- Jordan – 1.1%
- Yemen – 1.0%
- Bahrain – 0.9%
- Niger – 0.9%
- Algeria – 0.8%
- Iceland – 0.5%
- Saudi Arabia – 0.5%
- Kuwait – 0.4%
- Mauritania – 0.3%
- Djibouti – 0.3%
- Libya – 0.1%
- Faroe Islands – 0.1%
Sources:
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