Forest area in Africa
Africa: Forest area was 670.25 million hectares in 2011. ▼ Falling
Forest area in Africa, 1990–2011
Source: Food and Agriculture Organization, electronic files and web site. Measured in hectares.
Analysis
Africa recorded 670.25 million hectares for forest area in 2011. That is the lowest value across all 22 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is down 0.5% on the previous year and down 4.8% over ten years.
Over the whole period, forest area in Africa peaked at 748.42 million hectares in 1990 and was at its lowest, 670.25 million hectares, in 2011.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 22 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 730.12 million hectares | 711.82 million hectares | 748.42 million hectares | 10 |
| 2000s | 692.38 million hectares | 677.02 million hectares | 707.75 million hectares | 10 |
| 2010s | 671.93 million hectares | 670.25 million hectares | 673.61 million hectares | 2 |
Countries ranked near Africa
More agriculture & rural data for Africa
- Land area 2.94 billion hectares (2011)
- Wood fuel production quantity 612.10 million CUM, solid volume units (2011)
- Agriculture production index 111.37 1999-2001 = 100 (2011)
- Agricultural land 1.16 billion hectares (2011)
- Arable and permanent cropland 257.28 million hectares (2011)
- Wood charcoal production quantity 27.46 million tonnes (2011)
- Permanent cropland 29.07 million hectares (2011)
- Land area equipped for irrigation 13.91 million hectares (2011)
- Cereal production index 112.07 1999-2001 = 100 (2011)
- Cereal cropland 3.8% (2011)
Frequently asked questions
- What is forest area in Africa?
- Forest area in Africa was 670.25 million hectares in 2011, according to Food and Agriculture Organization, electronic files and web site.
- What is the highest forest area recorded in Africa?
- The highest recorded value was 748.42 million hectares in 1990.
- What is the lowest forest area recorded in Africa?
- The lowest recorded value was 670.25 million hectares in 2011.
- How does Africa rank for forest area?
- Africa ranks 1st out of 6 groups with data for 2011.
- Is forest area rising or falling in Africa?
- Over the last ten years it is down 4.8%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Africa data come from?
- The figures come from Food and Agriculture Organization, electronic files and web site, published as part of Forest area (hectares). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 22 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).
About this data
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.