Forest area in Switzerland
Switzerland: Forest area was 12,794 sq. km in 2023. ▲ Rising
Forest area in Switzerland, 1990–2023
Source: FAOSTAT, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). Measured in sq. km.
Analysis
Switzerland recorded 12,794 sq. km for forest area in 2023. That is the highest value across all 34 years on record.
The figure is up 0.3% on the previous year and up 2.8% over ten years.
Over the whole period, forest area in Switzerland peaked at 12,794 sq. km in 2023 and was at its lowest, 11,535 sq. km, in 1990.
That places Switzerland 115th out of 213 countries with data for 2023, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 34 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 11,727 sq. km | 11,535 sq. km | 11,919 sq. km | 10 |
| 2000s | 12,135 sq. km | 11,962 sq. km | 12,309 sq. km | 10 |
| 2010s | 12,502 sq. km | 12,347 sq. km | 12,657 sq. km | 10 |
| 2020s | 12,743 sq. km | 12,691 sq. km | 12,794 sq. km | 4 |
Countries ranked near Switzerland
- 112 Slovakia 19,259 sq. km compare
- 113 Bangladesh 18,834 sq. km compare
- 114 Kyrgyzstan 13,701 sq. km compare
- 116 Belize 12,436 sq. km compare
- 117 Slovenia 12,317 sq. km compare
- 118 Afghanistan 12,084 sq. km compare
More agriculture & rural data for Switzerland
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added 6.73 billion current US$ (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added 0.6% (2025)
- Rural population 1.30 million (2025)
- Rural population growth -0.9% (2025)
- Rural population 14.3% (2025)
- Agricultural raw materials imports 0.5% (2024)
- Agricultural raw materials exports 0.1% (2024)
- Agriculture as a share of GDP vs. GDP per capita 0.6% (2025)
- Share of GDP from agriculture 0.6% (2025)
- Land under cereal production 141,863 hectares (2023)
Frequently asked questions
- What is forest area in Switzerland?
- Forest area in Switzerland was 12,794 sq. km in 2023, according to FAOSTAT, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).
- What is the highest forest area recorded in Switzerland?
- The highest recorded value was 12,794 sq. km in 2023.
- What is the lowest forest area recorded in Switzerland?
- The lowest recorded value was 11,535 sq. km in 1990.
- How does Switzerland rank for forest area?
- Switzerland ranks 115th out of 213 countries with data for 2023.
- Is forest area rising or falling in Switzerland?
- Over the last ten years it is up 2.8%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Switzerland 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.