Donate

Forests

Forest remaining

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations reports that forests cover 4.14 billion hectares, 32 percent of the world land, based on reports from 236 countries and areas.

Global Forest Resources Assessment 2025 · 4.14 billion hectares · 32 percent of land

Old-growth forest on Prince of Wales Island in the Tongass National Forest, Alaska, with moss-covered trunks and fallen logs.

Old-growth forest on Prince of Wales Island in the Tongass National Forest, Alaska, with moss-covered trunks and fallen logs.

Photo: Nicholas Thomas, USDA Forest Service Alaska Region, via Wikimedia Commons, public domain (work of a U.S. federal government agency).

What it is

The Global Forest Resources Assessment 2025, published by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, reports that the world has 4.14 billion hectares of forest. That is 32 percent of the global land area, or 0.5 hectares of forest per person, and it rests on reports from 236 countries and areas. The assessment defines forest as land spanning more than 0.5 hectares with trees higher than 5 metres and a canopy cover of more than 10 percent, or trees able to reach those thresholds in place. Land mainly used for farming or for towns and cities is left out of the definition.

Why it matters

The organization says that nearly half of the world forests are in the tropics and that more than half, 54 percent, are in five countries: the Russian Federation, Brazil, Canada, the United States of America and China. Of the world regions, Europe has the largest forest area, 25 percent of the world total. The assessment adds that the rate of deforestation slowed in every region over the last decade and that more than half of the world forests are covered by long-term management plans.

How to read it

The total is a land-use figure compiled from official national reports under one shared definition, and land counts as forest because of how it is used. Areas that are temporarily without trees after clear-cutting or natural disasters, and are expected to regenerate within 5 years, are included. Of the total, 92 percent, or 3.83 billion hectares, is naturally regenerating forest and about 8 percent, or 312 million hectares, is planted forest. Primary forests make up at least 1.18 billion hectares of the naturally regenerating part.

Limits

The figure is a snapshot for 2025 from an assessment that appears every five years, and the 2025 edition was released on 21 October 2025. Values are generally rounded to three significant figures, so totals can differ slightly from the sum of their parts. Not all countries and areas reported on every parameter.

Sources

Open the source