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Ireland — Forest area

Also known as forest cover, woodland share, share of land covered by forest, woodland area.

Forest Area (% of Land Area) for Ireland, 1990–2024.

Latest value · 2024
11.97%
Forest Area (% of Land Area) · % of land area · +78.7% since 1990
Free for any use — attribution is the link itself.

Forest area for Ireland was 11.97% in 2024, according to the latest World Bank data. The series covers 35 years, from 1990 to 2024. The latest year is also the highest value on record for this series. The lowest was 6.70% in 1990 (about 1.8× the low point). Across that span the compound annual growth rate works out to 1.72% per year.

Ireland ranks 158 of 214 economies on this measure (1 = highest), putting it in the top 74%. The median for Europe & Central Asia is 32.02%, so Ireland sits below it. Over the last decade (2014–2024) the figure moved up 10%. Within Europe & Central Asia it ranks 42 of 57 economies; Armenia (11.85%) is just below it. That is 5% above this series' own ten-year average.

Data highlights

Doubling roughly every 41 years at that pace.

World ranking. Slipped: 141st of 178 in 1990 → 164th of 207 in 2000 → 163rd of 209 in 2010 → 161st of 214 in 2020 → 157th of 209 in 2024.

Adjacent in the latest world ranking (158 of 214): Eritrea (#157) · Uganda (#159).

Key figures

Latest (2024)
11.97%
First (1990)
6.70%
Change
+78.7%
Highest
11.97%
in 2024
Lowest
6.70%
in 1990
Average
9.81%
Annual growth (CAGR)
1.72%
Years of data
35

Recent published years. 2024 — 11.97% · 2023 — 11.86% · 2022 — 11.75% · 2021 — 11.63% · 2020 — 11.52%.

Full history — 1990 to 2024

All 35 published years for this series, most recent first. Years the source does not publish are omitted rather than interpolated.

Ireland — Forest area
Year% of land areaChange
202411.97%+0.1 pp
202311.86%+0.1 pp
202211.75%+0.1 pp
202111.63%+0.1 pp
202011.52%+0.1 pp
201911.4%+0.1 pp
201811.29%+0.1 pp
201711.18%+0.1 pp
201611.07%+0.1 pp
201510.95%+0.1 pp
201410.86%+0.1 pp
201310.76%+0.1 pp
201210.66%+0.1 pp
201110.56%+0.1 pp
201010.46%+0.1 pp
200910.33%+0.1 pp
200810.2%+0.1 pp
200710.06%+0.1 pp
20069.93%+0.1 pp
20059.8%+0.1 pp
20049.67%+0.1 pp
20039.54%+0.1 pp
20029.41%+0.1 pp
20019.28%+0.1 pp
20009.15%+0.2 pp
19998.91%+0.2 pp
19988.66%+0.2 pp
19978.42%+0.2 pp
19968.17%+0.2 pp
19957.93%+0.2 pp
19947.68%+0.2 pp
19937.44%+0.2 pp
19927.19%+0.2 pp
19916.95%+0.2 pp
19906.7%—
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.

Frequently asked questions

What was Ireland’s Forest area in 1991?

6.95% (1991). The full year-by-year table above lists every published year, most recent first.

Are changes in this series measured in percentage points?

Yes. The series is a share expressed in % of land area, so year-over-year movements in the Change column are percentage points (pp), not percent.

Is Ireland’s Forest area growing or shrinking?

Between 1990 and 2024 the series was growing overall: +78.7% in total — about 1.7% a year compounded.

Where does this data come from?

World Bank Open Data (CC BY-4.0), indicator AG.LND.FRST.ZS. Values are reproduced as published; this page only computes summary statistics such as change, CAGR and extremes.

What are the most recent published figures?

The last five published years: 2024: 11.97%; 2023: 11.86%; 2022: 11.75%; 2021: 11.63%; 2020: 11.52%. Earlier years are in the full-history table below.

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<iframe src="https://metrikatlas.com/embed/ireland/forest-area/" width="600" height="360" style="border:0" loading="lazy" title="Ireland — Forest area"></iframe>Free to use with attribution — the link back is the attribution.
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.
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