Skip to content
Airleaf
A city neighbourhood seen from above, almost hidden under a dense canopy of trees at sunset
Deforestation · 2001–2025

Where the world is losing its trees

How much forest 163 countries and 3,240 cities have lost each year since 2001: what was cleared for good, what burned or was logged, and satellite timelapses of the places changing fastest.
Forest in 2000
4000 million ha
Forest lost since 2001
543 million ha
14% of it, about 5,400,000 km²
Cleared for good
184 million ha
deforestation, 34% of the loss
Worst year
2016
29.7 million ha lost

Since 2001, the world has lost about 543 million hectares of forest (about 5,400,000 km²): 14% of the forest it had in 2000. The biggest cause was farms, pasture and plantations (32%). About 184 million hectares (34%) was deforestation: forest cleared for good for farms, mines or towns. Forest loss has stayed about the same: about 26.3 million hectares a year in 2021–2025, against 26.8 million hectares a year in 2016–2020.

Where the world has lost forest since 2001

World map: forest cover in 2000 from dark purple (none) to yellow (dense), and forest lost since 2001 from red (early years) to white (recent)
Forest cover in 2000
0%25%50%75%100%How much of the land was forest: dark purple had little or none, yellow was dense forest.
Year the forest was lost
200120132025Where forest was cut down, burned or cleared since 2001: red for the early years, through orange, to white for the most recent. Solid where a fifth or more of a place's forest went, fainter where 8% or more did.
Spin it on the 3D Earth

Forest lost worldwide, year by year

The worst year was 2016, when about 29.7 million hectares of forest were lost.

Forest lost worldwide each year, 2001–2025

Hectares of forest lost each year

Forest lost worldwide each year, 2001–2025. Use the left and right arrow keys to read each year.29.7M

Show the figures as a table
Forest lost worldwide each year, 2001–2025
YearCleared for goodCan grow backTotal
20015.52 million ha7.84 million ha13.4 million ha
20026.38 million ha10.1 million ha16.5 million ha
20035.64 million ha8.85 million ha14.5 million ha
20047.52 million ha12.4 million ha19.9 million ha
20057.45 million ha10.7 million ha18.1 million ha
20066.83 million ha10.8 million ha17.7 million ha
20077.28 million ha11.1 million ha18.4 million ha
20087.38 million ha11.2 million ha18.6 million ha
20097.59 million ha9.42 million ha17 million ha
20107.77 million ha10.8 million ha18.6 million ha
20117.02 million ha10.6 million ha17.6 million ha
20128.91 million ha14.6 million ha23.5 million ha
20136.14 million ha14.5 million ha20.7 million ha
20148.38 million ha15.4 million ha23.8 million ha
20156.42 million ha13.2 million ha19.7 million ha
20169.76 million ha20 million ha29.7 million ha
20179.86 million ha19.6 million ha29.4 million ha
20187.87 million ha16.9 million ha24.8 million ha
20197.31 million ha16.9 million ha24.2 million ha
20207.35 million ha18.5 million ha25.8 million ha
20217.11 million ha18.2 million ha25.3 million ha
20227.44 million ha15.4 million ha22.8 million ha
20237.72 million ha20.6 million ha28.3 million ha
20247.21 million ha22.4 million ha29.6 million ha
20256.08 million ha19.5 million ha25.6 million ha

Most deforested countries

US statesFull ranking
CountryCleared for goodShare of its forest
Brazil56.2 million ha11%
Indonesia25 million ha16%
Malaysia7.55 million ha26%
Paraguay6.78 million ha28%
Bolivia5.81 million ha8.9%
Argentina5.72 million ha15%
Colombia5.2 million ha6.3%
Mexico4.39 million ha8.2%
Ivory Coast4.08 million ha27%
United States4 million ha1.4%

Most deforested cities

Full ranking
City (10 km)Cleared for goodShare of its forest
Subulussalam, Indonesia19,500 ha69%
Kluang, Malaysia18,200 ha77%
Kakata, Liberia16,300 ha56%
Ijok, Malaysia15,900 ha63%
Prabumulih, Indonesia15,700 ha57%
Pangkalanbuun, Indonesia14,700 ha59%
Sepang, Malaysia14,500 ha70%
Baturaja, Indonesia13,900 ha52%
Bandar Tasik Puteri, Malaysia13,200 ha61%
Maran, Malaysia12,200 ha47%

What is causing deforestation worldwide?

  • Farms, pasture and plantations32% · 174 million ha

    Cleared for good. Forest cleared for crops, cattle pasture or tree plantations: the biggest cause of deforestation in the world.

  • Wildfires29% · 155 million ha

    Can grow back. Forest burned. It often grows back, though fire is sometimes used to clear land for good.

  • Logging25% · 136 million ha

    Can grow back. Trees cut for timber or paper. The land usually stays forest and grows back.

  • Shifting farming9.5% · 51.6 million ha

    Can grow back. Small patches cleared to grow crops for a few seasons, then left to grow back.

  • Storms, floods and other natural causes1.6% · 8.59 million ha

    Can grow back. Trees killed by storms, floods, landslides, pests or disease.

  • Unknown causes1.5% · 8.24 million ha

    Cause unknown. The satellites saw the trees go, but not why.

Also, each under 1%: mining and energy, towns and roads.

Causes for 2025 are estimates, based on what caused forest loss in the same places up to 2024.

Deforestation by country

Satellite timelapses by city

134 cities losing forest fast, each with a satellite photo a year since 2017, the forest lost marked on it, and its figures.

Africa

Asia

Europe

North America

South America

Oceania

Find a city or country

Every city and country we track shows how much forest it has lost since 2001; the places losing the most have a page of their own.

Frequently asked

Questions about deforestation

How much forest has the world lost since 2001?

Since 2001, the world has lost about 543 million hectares of forest (about 5,400,000 km²): 14% of the forest it had in 2000. The biggest cause was farms, pasture and plantations (32%). About 184 million hectares (34%) was deforestation: forest cleared for good for farms, mines or towns.

Is deforestation worldwide getting worse?

Forest loss has stayed about the same: about 26.3 million hectares a year in 2021–2025, against 26.8 million hectares a year in 2016–2020. These are five-year averages from 2011 on, the years the satellite maps were all made the same way.

What is causing deforestation worldwide?

The main causes of forest loss since 2001 are farms, pasture and plantations (32%), wildfires (29%), logging (25%). About 184 million hectares was deforestation, meaning forest cleared for good for farms, mines or towns. Causes for 2025 are estimates, based on what caused forest loss in the same places up to 2024.

What was the worst year for forest loss worldwide?

The worst year was 2016, when about 29.7 million hectares of forest were lost.

How is forest loss measured?

We use satellite maps from the University of Maryland (Hansen and colleagues) that show, for every 30 × 30 m patch of land on Earth, the year its trees were cut down, burned or died, from 2001 to 2025. We add up those patches worldwide, counting only places that were at least 30% covered by trees in 2000. The cause of each loss comes from a map made by the World Resources Institute and Google DeepMind. All figures are estimates.

Which country has lost the most forest?

Brazil has cleared the most forest for good since 2001: about 56.2 million ha, 11% of the forest it had in 2000. Counting all forest lost, burned and logged forest that can grow back included, Russia lost the most: about 91.7 million ha. The ranking of every country is linked below.

Which city has lost the most forest?

Around Subulussalam, Indonesia, about 19,500 ha of forest within 10 km of the centre was cleared for good from 2001 to 2025, more than around any other city we track.

How these figures are made

Forest lost. Scientists at the University of Maryland (Hansen and colleagues) use satellite images to map, for every 30 × 30 m patch of land on Earth, the year its trees were cut down, burned or died, from 2001 to 2025. We add those patches up for each country, region and city. Only places at least 30% covered by trees in 2000 count, the same rule Global Forest Watch uses, so our figures can be checked against theirs.

Deforestation means forest cleared for good: for farms, pasture and plantations, for mines, or for towns and roads. A map by the World Resources Institute and Google DeepMind gives the main cause in each square kilometre. Logging, fire, storms and shifting farming count as forest lost but not as deforestation, because the forest usually grows back. The causes map runs to 2024; later years take the cause each place had before, so they are estimates.

Cities are measured over everything within 10 km of the city centre, because centres are built up and forest is usually lost at a city's edges. Countries and regions use Natural Earth's boundaries, and every patch counts for its true area.

Forest gained. The loss maps can't see trees growing, so forest gained comes from a second University of Maryland map (Potapov and colleagues) that compares where forest stood in 2000 and 2020, plantations and orchards included.

Limits. All figures are estimates from satellite maps, so we round them. The satellite method improved in 2011, so trends compare five-year averages from 2011 on, not with the 2000s.

Satellite timelapses are photos from the European Space Agency's Sentinel-2 satellites: one clear image a year from 2017, taken in the same season each year so the colours compare.

Sources and reuse. Hansen, M. C. et al. (2013), Science 342, 850–853 (CC BY 4.0, “Source: Hansen/UMD/Google/USGS/NASA”); Sims, M. J. et al. (2025), Environmental Research Letters 20, 074027 (CC BY 4.0); Potapov, P. et al. (2022), Frontiers in Remote Sensing 3, 856903 (CC BY 4.0); Natural Earth (public domain); contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data. Airleaf's figures and images may be reused under CC BY 4.0 with credit to Airleaf and the sources above.

Download the country figures (CSV)
Most deforested countries Every country ranked, 2001–2025.Most deforested cities The surroundings of each city, ranked.Cities gaining forest Where forest grew, 2000–2020.City reports Tree cover and air quality today, for every city.