IBRD only: Forest area (% of land area)

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2023, IBRD only's forest area (% of land area) fell 0.02 percentage points on 2022 (from 33.76% to 33.74%).

Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1993 to 2022), the average change was −0.04 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 0.02 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 1.1 standard deviations above that average, so it was larger than a typical year, though not out of the range seen before.

On record, the biggest yearly fall was 0.09 percentage points in 2000. The numbers show how large and when, not why; for the cause, look at what happened in that country in those years.

From 2014 to 2023 the straight-line trend is downward, about 0.02 percentage points a year. A straight line explains 99% of the movement over 10 observed years.

Worked out from the yearly values above. How the checks work: standard deviation, z-scores and straight-line trends.

A straight-line projection, tested first

Extending that straight line gives about 33.67% for 2026. We show this only because the same method, fitted on earlier years, predicted 2021 to 2023 better than "no change" would have: its average miss was 0.01%, against 0.04% for assuming no change. Treat it as a continuation of the recent pattern, not a forecast of events: it cannot see a recession, a policy change or a revision to the data.

See how a linear trend forecast works and the guide on forecasting without fooling yourself.

How it compares

See how every economy compares in the full ranking.

What this measures

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.

Limitations: FAO has been collecting and analyzing data on forest area since 1946. This is done at intervals of 5-10 years as part of the Global Forest Resources Assessment (FRA). FAO reports data for 229 countries and territories; for the remaining 56 small island states and territories where no information is provided, a report is prepared by FAO using existing information and a literature search. The data are aggregated at sub-regional, regional and global levels by the FRA team at FAO, and estimates are produced by straight summation. The lag between the reference year and the actual production of data series as well as the frequency of data production varies between countries.

Regional and income-group figures are computed by the World Bank as a weighted average.

All 32 values

Forest area (% of land area) in nearby economies

• Afghanistan — 1.85% (2024)
• Algeria — 0.71% (2024)
• Bahrain — 4.86% (2024)
• Djibouti — 0.26% (2024)
• Egypt, Arab Rep. — 0.00412% (2024)
• Iran, Islamic Rep. — 6.63% (2024)
• Iraq — 1.61% (2024)
• Israel — 6.84% (2024)
• Jordan — 0.8% (2024)
• Kuwait — 0.35% (2024)
• Lebanon — 13.8% (2024)
• Libya

More environment data for IBRD only

• Population in the largest city (% of urban population) — 12.53% (2025)
• Population in urban agglomerations of more than 1 million (% of total population) — 25.59% (2025)
• Rural population — 2.07 billion (2025)
• Rural population (% of total population) — 41.35% (2025)
• Urban population — 2.94 billion (2025)
• Urban population (% of total population) — 58.65% (2025)
• Fossil fuel energy consumption (% of total) — 83.73% (2024)
• Aquaculture production (metric tons) — 127.05 million (2024)
• Capture fisheries production (metric tons) — 60.04 million (2024)

Reading data like this

• Where to find free public data, and how to check it before you trust it — 2 min read
• Data analysis examples: 6 worked from one dataset — 3 min read
• Real change or random noise? A plain guide to reading your numbers — 2 min read

Questions people ask

What is IBRD only's forest area (% of land area)?

33.74% in 2023, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1992?

It is down 1.22 percentage points from 34.96% in 1992. The highest value was 34.96% in 1992 and the lowest 33.74% in 2023.

Is the latest change in forest area (% of land area) unusual for IBRD only?

In 2023, IBRD only's forest area (% of land area) fell 0.02 percentage points on 2022 (from 33.76% to 33.74%). Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1993 to 2022), the average change was −0.04 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 0.02 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 1.1 standard deviations above that average, so it was larger than a typical year, though not out of the range seen before.

Source

World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator AG.LND.FRST.ZS, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: FAOSTAT, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), uri: https://www.fao.org/faostat/en/#data/RL, publisher: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) Figures are fetched from the World Bank API and refreshed monthly; see the series on data.worldbank.org. The full definition and method are in the World Bank's metadata glossary. Comparisons use the same World Bank release.

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