China (People’s Republic of) vs United States: Forest area

China (People’s Republic of)
2.26 million sq. km
in 2023
United States
3.10 million sq. km
in 2023
China (People’s Republic of) rank
5th
United States rank
4th

Forest area over time

  • China (People’s Republic of)
  • United States
01.0M2.0M3.0M199020062023

How they compare

United States currently reports 3.10 million sq. km against 2.26 million sq. km in China (People’s Republic of), a difference of 841,780 sq. km.

That makes United States's figure about 1.4 times China (People’s Republic of)'s.

Across all 34 years both countries report, United States has been ahead every year.

China (People’s Republic of) ranks 5th and United States ranks 4th of 213 countries.

United States has averaged higher in every one of the 4 decades both report.

Head to head by decade

Decade China (People’s Republic of) United States Difference Ahead
1990s 1.66 million sq. km 3.03 million sq. km 1.37 million sq. km United States
2000s 1.88 million sq. km 3.06 million sq. km 1.18 million sq. km United States
2010s 2.09 million sq. km 3.10 million sq. km 1.00 million sq. km United States
2020s 2.23 million sq. km 3.10 million sq. km 869,975 sq. km United States

Averages of every year both report within each decade.

Frequently asked questions

Which has higher forest area, China (People’s Republic of) or United States?
United States, at 3.10 million sq. km against 2.26 million sq. km in China (People’s Republic of) as of 2023.
What is the difference in forest area between China (People’s Republic of) and United States?
841,780 sq. km, with United States ahead.
How many years of comparable data are there for China (People’s Republic of) and United States?
34 years are reported by both, from 1990 to 2023.
How do China (People’s Republic of) and United States rank globally for forest area?
China (People’s Republic of) ranks 5th and United States ranks 4th of 213 countries.
Where does this data come from?
FAOSTAT, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), published as Forest area (sq. km). Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.

Individual pages

Share, cite or embed this page

Cite this page

China (People’s Republic of) vs United States: Forest area. Statizoid, drawing on FAOSTAT, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). Retrieved 21 August 2026, from https://agriculture.statizoid.com/compare/forest-area-sq-km/china/united-states/

Embed or link this data

Paste this into a page to link back to these figures. The data itself is free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data); please keep the attribution.

<a href="https://agriculture.statizoid.com/compare/forest-area-sq-km/china/united-states/">China (People’s Republic of) vs United States: Forest area</a> — Statizoid

About this data

Indicator
Forest area (sq. km)
Unit
sq. km
Source
FAOSTAT, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data)
Coverage
261 places, 8,639 data points, 1990–2023
Last refreshed

Forest area is land under natural or planted stands of trees of at least 5 meters in situ, whether productive or not, and excludes tree stands in agricultural production systems (for example, in fruit plantations and agroforestry systems) and trees in urban parks and gardens.