As global warming and industrialization threaten forests worldwide, countries like China, Russia, India, and Türkiye rank among those that have increased their forests the most in the last decade, with Türkiye ranking fourth globally in forested areas.
Some 4.14 billion hectares (10.2 billion acres) of land worldwide are covered by forests, making up 32% of the global land area, according to data from the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Global Forest Resources Assessment data, compiled by Anadolu.
The forested area per capita was 0.5 hectares, while tropical regions made up 45% of the world’s forests.
Forested areas in Europe covered 25% of the world’s total, while South America boasted the highest forest density on land.
The report showed that 54% of the world’s forests are in just five countries, namely Russia, Brazil, Canada, the US, and China.
In 1990-2000, the annual net loss of forested areas worldwide reached 10.7 million hectares, declining to 4.12 million hectares in 2015-2025. “The increase in forested areas in Asia slowed over recent years, while forested areas in South America significantly declined.”
A total of 489 million hectares of forest area worldwide had been lost to deforestation by 1990, while the rate of forest expansion declined from an annual average of 9.88 million hectares in 2000-2015 to an average of 6.78 million hectares in 2015-2025, the report showed.
Naturally regenerated forests covered 3.83 billion hectares, making up 92% of the world’s total forest area—this also decreased by 324 million hectares in 1990-2025, with the net loss rate falling from 13.8 million hectares per year in 1990-2000 to 6.97 million hectares per year in 2015-2025.
CHINA LEADS WITH LARGEST FOREST AREA INCREASE
China increased its forested areas by 1.6 million hectares annually over the last 10 years, followed by Russia with 942,000 hectares and India with 191,000 hectares.
At the same time, Türkiye increased its forested areas by 118,000 hectares (or by 0.53%) annually, ranking first in Europe and fourth worldwide.
Australia followed Türkiye with 105,000 hectares, France with 95,900 hectares, Indonesia with 94,100 hectares, South Africa with 87,600 hectares, Canada with 82,500 hectares, and Vietnam with 72,800 hectares.
Meanwhile, Brazil saw the largest forest losses with an average annual loss of 2.9 million hectares in 2015-2025, according to the report.
Following Brazil, Angola lost 510,000 hectares per year, Tanzania 469,000 hectares, Myanmar 290,000 hectares, Congo 283,000 hectares, and Mozambique 267,000 hectares of forest area.
At the same time, Cambodia lost 251,000 hectares, Peru 239,000 hectares, Bolivia 232,000 hectares, and Paraguay 207,000 hectares.
The countries that lost the most forest area worldwide in the last 10 years were in South America and Africa, except for Cambodia.
The FAO report says that wildfires are the most significant factor affecting forests, as 130 million hectares were impacted by fires on average per year in 2007-2019.
In 2020 alone, insects, diseases, and severe weather events impacted 41 million hectares.
The total area of forests in legally protected areas worldwide is estimated to be 813 million hectares, accounting for approximately 20% of total forest area.
