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India — Forest area
Forest Area (% of Land Area) for India, 1990–2023.
Latest value · 2023
24.54%
Forest Area (% of Land Area) · % of land area · +14.1% since 1990
Forest area for India was 24.54% in 2023, according to the latest World Bank data. The series covers 34 years, from 1990 to 2023. The latest year is also the highest value on record for this series. The lowest was 21.50% in 1990 (about 1.1× the low point). Across that span the compound annual growth rate works out to 0.40% per year.
India ranks 120 of 214 economies on this measure (1 = highest), putting it in the top 56%. The median for South Asia is 34.00%, so India sits below it. Over the last decade (2013–2023) the figure moved up 4%.
Key figures
Latest (2023)
24.54%
First (1990)
21.50%
Change
+14.1%
Highest
24.54%
in 2023
Lowest
21.50%
in 1990
Average
23.12%
Annual growth (CAGR)
0.40%
Years of data
34
Recent years
| Year | % of land area |
|---|---|
| 2023 | 24.54% |
| 2022 | 24.45% |
| 2021 | 24.36% |
| 2020 | 24.27% |
| 2019 | 24.18% |
| 2018 | 24.09% |
| 2017 | 24% |
| 2016 | 23.91% |
| 2015 | 23.82% |
| 2014 | 23.73% |
| 2013 | 23.64% |
| 2012 | 23.55% |
Reading this correctly. Land under naturally regenerated or planted stands of trees of at least five meters in situ, as a share of total land area. Figures are in % of land area. Comparing this series with a different measure of the same concept (for example a nominal figure against a purchasing-power-parity figure) will give misleading results.
Related data
Source. World Bank Open Data, indicator
AG.LND.FRST.ZS — Forest Area (% of Land Area). Data licensed under CC BY 4.0. Values are reproduced as published; this page computes the summary statistics (change, CAGR, extremes) from the underlying annual series. View the original dataset on data.worldbank.org.