Forest area in Low & middle income
Low & middle income: Forest area was 21.61 million sq. km in 2023. ▼ Falling
Forest area in Low & middle income, 1992–2023
Source: FAOSTAT, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). Measured in sq. km.
Analysis
In 2023, forest area in Low & middle income stood at 21.61 million sq. km. That is the lowest value across all 32 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is down 0.2% on the previous year and down 2.5% over ten years.
Over the whole period, forest area in Low & middle income peaked at 23.27 million sq. km in 1993 and was at its lowest, 21.61 million sq. km, in 2023.
That places Low & middle income 4th out of 45 groups with data for 2023, putting it in the top 10%.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 32 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 23.03 million sq. km | 22.76 million sq. km | 23.27 million sq. km | 8 |
| 2000s | 22.40 million sq. km | 22.13 million sq. km | 22.68 million sq. km | 10 |
| 2010s | 22.02 million sq. km | 21.82 million sq. km | 22.22 million sq. km | 10 |
| 2020s | 21.69 million sq. km | 21.61 million sq. km | 21.77 million sq. km | 4 |
Countries ranked near Low & middle income
- 1 Russia 8.15 million sq. km compare
- 2 Brazil 4.93 million sq. km compare
- 3 Canada 3.47 million sq. km compare
- 4 United States 3.10 million sq. km compare
- 5 China (People’s Republic of) 2.26 million sq. km compare
- 6 Australia 1.34 million sq. km compare
- 7 Democratic Republic of the Congo 1.23 million sq. km compare
More agriculture & rural data for Low & middle income
- Rural population, per capita 0.4688 units per person (2025)
- Rural population 3.18 billion (2025)
- Rural population growth 0.3% (2025)
- Rural population 46.9% (2025)
- Agricultural raw materials imports 1.8% (2024)
- Agricultural raw materials exports 1.2% (2024)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (current US$), per 555.24 current US$ per person (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (current US$), annual 3.44 % change on previous year (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (current US$), per 0.0909 current US$ per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added 3.77 trillion current US$ (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is forest area in Low & middle income?
- Forest area in Low & middle income was 21.61 million sq. km in 2023, according to FAOSTAT, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).
- What is the highest forest area recorded in Low & middle income?
- The highest recorded value was 23.27 million sq. km in 1993.
- What is the lowest forest area recorded in Low & middle income?
- The lowest recorded value was 21.61 million sq. km in 2023.
- How does Low & middle income rank for forest area?
- Low & middle income ranks 4th out of 45 groups with data for 2023.
- Is forest area rising or falling in Low & middle income?
- Over the last ten years it is down 2.5%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Low & middle income 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 — 32 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.