Forest area in India
India: Forest area was 729,592 sq. km in 2023. ▲ Rising
Forest area in India, 1990–2023
Source: FAOSTAT, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). Measured in sq. km.
Analysis
India recorded 729,592 sq. km for forest area in 2023. That is the highest value across all 34 years on record.
That represents a change of up 0.4% on the previous year and up 3.8% over ten years.
Over the whole period, forest area in India peaked at 729,592 sq. km in 2023 and was at its lowest, 639,380 sq. km, in 1990.
That places India 9th out of 213 countries with data for 2023, putting it in the top 10%.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 34 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 655,818 sq. km | 639,380 sq. km | 672,257 sq. km | 10 |
| 2000s | 684,482 sq. km | 675,910 sq. km | 693,055 sq. km | 10 |
| 2010s | 706,948 sq. km | 694,960 sq. km | 718,940 sq. km | 10 |
| 2020s | 725,596 sq. km | 721,600 sq. km | 729,592 sq. km | 4 |
Countries ranked near India
More agriculture & rural data for India
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added 642.24 billion current US$ (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added 16.2% (2025)
- Rural population 941.42 million (2025)
- Rural population growth 0.4% (2025)
- Rural population 64.3% (2025)
- Agricultural raw materials imports 1.5% (2024)
- Agricultural raw materials exports 0.9% (2024)
- Agriculture as a share of GDP vs. GDP per capita 16.2% (2025)
- Share of GDP from agriculture 16.2% (2025)
- Land under cereal production 107.67 million hectares (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is forest area in India?
- Forest area in India was 729,592 sq. km in 2023, according to FAOSTAT, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).
- What is the highest forest area recorded in India?
- The highest recorded value was 729,592 sq. km in 2023.
- What is the lowest forest area recorded in India?
- The lowest recorded value was 639,380 sq. km in 1990.
- How does India rank for forest area?
- India ranks 9th out of 213 countries with data for 2023.
- Is forest area rising or falling in India?
- Over the last ten years it is up 3.8%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this India data come from?
- The figures come from FAOSTAT, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), published as part of Forest area (sq. km). 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 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.