Countries by Forest area (% of land area)
Suriname leads with 94.45% of its territory covered in forest. Qatar and a handful of other arid desert nations report 0% forest coverage. The 999% spread across 213 countries reflects how profoundly climate and geography shape forest presence globally.
Ranking 2023
Values shown in %.
Analysis
Forest area refers to land under natural or planted trees of at least 5 meters in height, whether actively managed or not. The metric explicitly excludes fruit plantations and agroforestry systems, focusing only on true forest stands. This matters because forests provide critical ecosystem services: carbon storage, biodiversity habitat, water regulation, and livelihood support. Forest percentage reveals how much of a country's territory remains forested after centuries of clearing for agriculture, settlement, and development. All 213 countries reported 2023 data, with an average year-over-year change of just 1.9%, indicating forest areas shift slowly despite climate and land-use pressures.
The top rankings are dominated by three groups. Island nations with tropical climates cluster high: Micronesia (92.16%), Palau (90.54%), Solomon Islands (90.06%), and Seychelles (73.26%). Rainforest nations follow: Guyana (87.09%), Gabon (91.18%), Equatorial Guinea (86.39%), and the Democratic Republic Congo (64.13%). Surprisingly, boreal and temperate developed nations rank high: Finland (73.72%), Sweden (68.70%), and Japan (68.40%). At the opposite extreme are arid regions. Most desert nations sit below 1%: Mauritania (0.29%), Djibouti (0.26%), Niger (0.82%), and Algeria (0.83%). Arctic territories have minimal forest: Greenland (0.0005%), Faroe Islands (0.058%). Urban city-states report 0%: Gibraltar and Monaco both have no forest area by this definition.
Forest coverage reflects both climate and development history. Tropical rainforest nations near the equator show the highest percentages, while arid belts across North Africa and the Middle East show the lowest. One striking pattern: wealthy, developed temperate nations maintain significant forest. South Korea ranks 21st at 64.1%, despite being heavily urbanized and industrialized. Japan at rank 19 (68.4%) shows that reforestation efforts and forest management in developed nations can sustain high coverage. Costa Rica, a Central American nation, ranks 27th at 60.4%, suggesting aggressive reforestation policy can raise forest percentages even outside rainforest zones. Conversely, some tropical nations have lost substantial forest to agricultural expansion and deforestation, falling far below the top rankings.
This metric counts all trees above 5 meters, whether in protected reserves or actively logged forests. A country with vast plantation forests (fast-growing commercial timber) counts equally to one with primary rainforest. The definition excludes agroforestry—trees grown among crops—so countries with high tree-crop integration may appear lower than their actual forest density. Some nations rely on estimates or satellite data that may have 1-2 year lags. Additionally, "forest" doesn't measure quality or biodiversity; a recovering secondary forest and a pristine primary forest both count the same. Climate change is altering which regions can support forests, making historical comparisons less predictive of future forest coverage.
Methodology
The World Bank and Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) define forest area as land under natural or planted stands of trees of at least 5 meters in situ, whether productive or not. The definition explicitly excludes tree stands in agricultural production systems such as fruit plantations and agroforestry, and excludes trees in urban parks and gardens. Forest area is expressed as a percentage of total land area. Data comes from FAO Forest Resources Assessment and is sourced through the World Bank's World Development Indicators database (indicator: AG.LND.FRST.ZS). All 213 countries have 2023 data with no gaps. The metric measures extent of forest coverage but not forest quality, biodiversity, management status, or timber productivity. Some countries report satellite-based estimates rather than ground surveys, which may have minor accuracy variations.