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January 21

Data update

Track how forests are changing around the world

Fiona Spooner

How are forest sizes changing around the world? Where is deforestation happening most, and where are forests actually growing in size through afforestation or natural expansion?

To help you track this, I recently updated our charts with the latest data from the UN FAO’s Forest Resource Assessment, which is published every five years.

The data shows that net deforestation has increased globally to around 5 million hectares (ha) per year for 2020–2025, driven primarily by deforestation in Brazil of 3.3 million ha per year. For context, there are about 4 billion ha of forest globally.

Despite the net deforestation globally, many countries across Europe and Asia have seen increases in forest area throughout the 21st century.

Explore all of the updated charts
A world map showing the annual change in forest area for 2025. The net change in forest area measures forest expansion (the sum of afforestation and natural expansion) minus deforestation. This data is calculated as the average annual change based on either ten- or five-year changes in forest area. The exact change may differ from year to year over this period. The data source is the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2025). The chart is licensed CC BY to Our World in Data.