Netherlands's forest area (sq. km) was 3,693 in 2025, the latest year in the World Bank's World Development Indicators. That is up 1.23% from 3,648 in 2015 (0.12% a year on average, compounded).
Key figures
| Value | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| Latest | 3,693 | 2025 |
| Five years earlier | 3,671 | 2020 |
| Ten years earlier | 3,648 | 2015 |
| Highest | 3,735 | 2010 |
| Lowest | 3,453 | 1990 |
| Average since 2016 | 3,673 | 2016–2025 |
| First recorded | 3,453 | 1990 |
What the numbers say
In 2025, Netherlands' forest area (sq. km) rose 0.1% on 2024 (from 3,689 to 3,693).
Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1995 to 2024), the average change was +0.2% and a typical year strayed about 0.3% from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.1 standard deviations below that average, so it was an ordinary year: it sits within the range of normal year-to-year movement.
On record, the biggest yearly rise was 0.4% in 1991 and the biggest yearly fall was 0.5% in 2015. The numbers show how large and when, not why; for the cause, look at what happened in that country in those years.
From 2016 to 2025 the straight-line trend is upward, about 4.5 a year. A straight line explains 100% 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.
How it compares
In 2025, Netherlands had the 148th highest value of the 209 economies reporting that year. Higher is not always better: for some indicators the lowest value is the one to aim for. See the full ranking.
| Value | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| Netherlands | 3,693 | 2025 |
| World | 40.35 million | 2023 |
| Europe & Central Asia | 10.59 million | 2023 |
| High income | 18.74 million | 2023 |
Closest to Netherlands in the 2025 ranking
- Brunei Darussalam — 145th of 209: 3,800
- Haiti — 146th of 209: 3,721
- Moldova — 147th of 209: 3,703
- Armenia — 149th of 209: 3,341
- United Arab Emirates — 150th of 209: 3,246
- Burundi — 151st of 209: 2,796
What this measures
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.
Limitations: The Food and Agricultural Organization (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.
Regional and income-group figures are computed by the World Bank as a sum.
All 36 values
| Year | Forest area (sq. km) |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 3,693 |
| 2024 | 3,689 |
| 2023 | 3,684 |
| 2022 | 3,680 |
| 2021 | 3,675 |
| 2020 | 3,671 |
| 2019 | 3,666 |
| 2018 | 3,662 |
| 2017 | 3,657 |
| 2016 | 3,653 |
| 2015 |
Forest area (sq. km) in nearby economies
- Albania — 9,410 (2025)
- Andorra — 182.2 (2025)
- Armenia — 3,341 (2025)
- Austria — 39,039 (2025)
- Azerbaijan — 12,137 (2025)
- Belarus — 89,754 (2025)
- Belgium — 6,705 (2025)
- Bosnia and Herzegovina — 21,621 (2025)
- Bulgaria — 39,590 (2025)
- Channel Islands — 10.2 (2021)
- Croatia — 19,462 (2025)
- Cyprus — 1,717 (2025)
More environment data for Netherlands
- Population in largest city — 1.19 million (2025)
- Population in the largest city (% of urban population) — 6.85% (2025)
- Population in urban agglomerations of more than 1 million — 2.22 million (2025)
- Population in urban agglomerations of more than 1 million (% of total population) — 12.25% (2025)
- Rural population — 734,613 (2025)
- Rural population (% of total population) — 4.06% (2025)
- Urban population — 17.35 million (2025)
- Urban population (% of total population) — 95.94% (2025)
- Aquaculture production (metric tons) — 33,376 (2024)
Reading data like this
Questions people ask
- What is Netherlands's forest area (sq. km)?
- 3,693 in 2025, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).
- How has it changed since 1990?
- It is up 6.95% from 3,453 in 1990 (0.19% a year on average, compounded). The highest value was 3,735 in 2010 and the lowest 3,453 in 1990.
- How does Netherlands rank?
- 148th highest of 209 economies with data for 2025.
- Is the latest change in forest area (sq. km) unusual for Netherlands?
- In 2025, Netherlands' forest area (sq. km) rose 0.1% on 2024 (from 3,689 to 3,693). Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1995 to 2024), the average change was +0.2% and a typical year strayed about 0.3% from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.1 standard deviations below that average, so it was an ordinary year: it sits within the range of normal year-to-year movement.
Source
World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator AG.LND.FRST.K2, 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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