Forest area in Iceland
Iceland: Forest area was 0.5% in 2023. ▲ Rising
Forest area in Iceland, 1990–2023
Source: FAOSTAT, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). Measured in % of land area.
Analysis
Iceland recorded 0.5% for forest area in 2023. That is the highest value across all 34 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is up 1.2% on the previous year and up 13.3% over ten years.
Over the whole period, forest area in Iceland peaked at 0.5% in 2023 and was at its lowest, 0.2%, in 1990.
Iceland ranks 199th of 213 countries on this measure, in the bottom quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 34 years of available data.
Forest area in Iceland, year by year
| Year | % of land area | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1990 | 0.2% | — |
| 1991 | 0.2% | +7.5% |
| 1992 | 0.2% | +7.0% |
| 1993 | 0.2% | +6.5% |
| 1994 | 0.2% | +6.1% |
| 1995 | 0.2% | +5.8% |
| 1996 | 0.2% | +5.4% |
| 1997 | 0.3% | +5.2% |
| 1998 | 0.3% | +4.9% |
| 1999 | 0.3% | +4.7% |
| 2000 | 0.3% | +4.5% |
| 2001 | 0.3% | +5.0% |
| 2002 | 0.3% | +4.7% |
| 2003 | 0.3% | +4.5% |
| 2004 | 0.4% | +4.3% |
| 2005 | 0.4% | +4.1% |
| 2006 | 0.4% | +4.0% |
| 2007 | 0.4% | +3.8% |
| 2008 | 0.4% | +3.7% |
| 2009 | 0.4% | +3.6% |
| 2010 | 0.4% | +3.4% |
| 2011 | 0.5% | +1.6% |
| 2012 | 0.5% | +1.5% |
| 2013 | 0.5% | +1.5% |
| 2014 | 0.5% | +1.5% |
| 2015 | 0.5% | +1.5% |
| 2016 | 0.5% | +1.0% |
| 2017 | 0.5% | +1.5% |
| 2018 | 0.5% | +0.8% |
| 2019 | 0.5% | +1.3% |
| 2020 | 0.5% | +1.3% |
| 2021 | 0.5% | +1.3% |
| 2022 | 0.5% | +1.3% |
| 2023 | 0.5% | +1.2% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 0.2% | 0.2% | 0.3% | 10 |
| 2000s | 0.4% | 0.3% | 0.4% | 10 |
| 2010s | 0.5% | 0.4% | 0.5% | 10 |
| 2020s | 0.5% | 0.5% | 0.5% | 4 |
Countries ranked near Iceland
More agriculture & rural data for Iceland
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (current US$), annual 19.96 % change on previous year (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (current US$), per 0.0365 current US$ per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (current US$), per 3,593 current US$ per person (2025)
- Rural population, annual growth rate 0.8983 % change on previous year (2025)
- Rural population, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Rural population, per capita 0.0578 units per person (2025)
- Share of GDP from agriculture 3.7% (2025)
- Agriculture as a share of GDP vs. GDP per capita 3.7% (2025)
- Agricultural raw materials exports 0.5% (2025)
- Agricultural raw materials imports 1.0% (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is forest area in Iceland?
- Forest area in Iceland was 0.5% in 2023, according to FAOSTAT, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).
- What is the highest forest area recorded in Iceland?
- The highest recorded value was 0.5% in 2023.
- What is the lowest forest area recorded in Iceland?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.2% in 1990.
- How does Iceland rank for forest area?
- Iceland ranks 199th out of 213 countries with data for 2023.
- Is forest area rising or falling in Iceland?
- Over the last ten years it is up 13.3%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Iceland data come from?
- The figures come from FAOSTAT, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), published as part of Forest area (% of land area). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 34 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).
About this data
Forest area (% of land area) is the share of total land area that is 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.