Share of World Forests by Country

The global forest cover comprises over three trillion trees.

Approximately half of these trees (1.3 trillion) are found in the tropics and subtropics, while about one-fourth (0.74 trillion) are in the boreal regions, and one-fifth (0.66 trillion) in temperate regions.

So, how does this distribution look on a country-by-country basis?

Utilizing data from the World Bank, the VisualCapitalist team illustrated each country's share of the world's total forest area.

Naturally, larger countries typically boast more forested areas, resulting in a higher percentage of the world's forests.

At the forefront of the list, Russia claims over one-fifth of the world's forests, encompassing a vast expanse of 8 million km2, which is slightly less than half of the entire country.

Following closely, Brazil, the fifth-largest and sixth-most populated nation, ranks second with just over 12% of the total forests, covering close to 5 million km2, over 60% of its landmass. Its prominent forest, the Amazon, has encountered significant deforestation, losing 237,000 km2 in five years. The Amazon rainforest is also a substantial part of Peru’s forest cover (ranked 10th on this visualization, with a 1.8% share).

Canada and the U.S. each harbor about 8% of the world's forests, fostering renowned national park systems dedicated to preserving the continent's natural biodiversity.

China secures the fifth spot, contributing 5.5% of the global forest cover. Unlike other nations experiencing forest decline, China has expanded its forest area by 511,807 km2 in 25 years, larger than Thailand's entire landmass. However, critics caution against potential drawbacks, such as promoting monocultures of non-native trees at the expense of native species.

Meanwhile, Australia and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) each claim a 3% share of the world's forests. The Congo Basin, the world's second-largest tropical rainforest, heavily influences the DRC's forest cover and extends across five other countries: Cameroon, Central African Republic, Congo, Equatorial Guinea, and Gabon.

Completing the top 10, Indonesia, India, and Peru each contribute 2% to the global forest coverage.

Rank	Counry	Forested area km2	% of world's forests
1	Russia	8,153,116	20.10%
2	Brazil	4,953,914	12.30%
3	Canada	3,468,911	8.60%
4	U.S.	3,097,950	7.70%
5	China	2,218,578	5.50%
6	Australia	1,340,051	3.30%
7	DRC	1,250,539	3.10%
8	Indonesia	915,277	2.30%
9	India	724,264	1.80%
10	Peru	721,575	1.80%
11	Angola	660,523	1.60%
12	Mexico	655,643	1.60%
13	Colombia	589,426	1.50%
14	Bolivia	506,208	1.30%
15	Venezuela	461,734	1.10%
16	Tanzania	452,760	1.10%
17	Zambia	446,258	1.10%
18	Mozambique	364,976	0.90%
19	Papua New Guinea	358,222	0.90%
20	Argentina	284,637	0.70%

Countries with abundant forest cover and smaller populations also have higher forest area per capita. 

Rank	Country	Sq. meters per capita
1	French Guiana	301,716
2	Suriname	260,815
3	Guyana	216,259
4	Gabon	109,335
5	Niue	95,773
6	Canada	94,921
7	Russia	56,022
8	Australia	50,982
9	Bolivia	47,384
10	Central African Republic	44,306
11	Botswana	44,281
12	Congo	41,984
13	Finland	40,337
14	Mongolia	39,916
15	Papua New Guinea	36,812
16	Bhutan	36,697
17	Belize	36,197
18	Solomon Islands	33,774
19	New Caledonia	29,506
20	Namibia	28,634

Want to learn more about the planet's forests?  Pay attention to these books.

• Finding the Mother Tree: Discovering the Wisdom of the Forest
• Forest: (Tree Photography Book, Nature and World Photo Book)
• The World Atlas of Trees and Forests: Exploring Earth's Forest Ecosystems