The Food and Agriculture Organization’s Global Forest Resources Assessment 2025 (FRA 2025), released every five years, shows that deforestation is slowing worldwide even as forests continue to face mounting ecological and human pressures. Published during the Global Forest Observations Initiative (GFOI) Plenary in Bali, Indonesia, the report offers the most detailed global snapshot of forest resources to date.

The 2025 edition of FAO’s flagship forest report covers data from 236 countries and areas, combining the efforts of nearly 700 experts and national correspondents. It confirms that forests now cover 4.14 billion hectares—about one-third of the planet’s land surface. Despite this vast coverage, the study warns that deforestation remains high at 10.9 million hectares per year, threatening biodiversity and local livelihoods.

More than half of the world’s forests are now managed under long-term plans, and one fifth fall within legally protected areas. FRA 2025 underscores that forests are essential for food security, renewable resources, and climate regulation, while reducing the risks of drought, floods, and desertification.

FAO’S MOST COMPREHENSIVE FOREST ASSESSMENT

FAO Director-General QU Dongyu, writing in the Foreword to FRA 2025, stated: “FRAs are the most comprehensive and transparent global evaluations of forest resources and their condition, management and uses, covering all the thematic elements of sustainable forest management. The data they produce serve multiple purposes, from informing the global community of the status of forests and their changes, to supporting decisions, policies and investments related to forests and the ecosystem services they provide.”

The assessment provides an in-depth analysis of forest trends:

• Forest extent: Forests cover 4.14 billion hectares, or 32 percent of the global land area, equivalent to 0.5 hectares per person. Nearly half of the world’s forests are located in the tropics.
• Net loss declining: The annual rate of net forest loss fell from 10.7 million hectares in the 1990s to 4.12 million hectares in 2015–2025.
• Deforestation and expansion: Deforestation slowed to 10.9 million hectares per year in 2015–2025, down from 17.6 million in 1990–2000. The rate of forest expansion also decreased, from 9.88 million hectares annually in 2000–2015 to 6.78 million in 2015–2025.
• Naturally regenerating forests: These account for 92 percent of total forest area (3.83 billion hectares). While they declined by 324 million hectares between 1990 and 2025, the rate of net loss slowed significantly. The most significant declines (within the last decade) took place in Africa and South America, while Europe registered an increase in naturally regenerating forests.
• Primary forests: Primary forests cover at least 1.18 billion hectares – about one-third of reported forest area. Losses continue, but the rate has halved compared with the early 2000s.
• Planted forests: Planted forests account for about 8 percent of total forest area, covering an estimated 312 million hectares. Their area has increased in all regions since 1990, but globally at a slower rate in the most recent decade.
• Biomass and carbon: The world’s forest growing stock is estimated at 630 billion cubic meters. Forest carbon stocks have increased, reaching 714 gigatons.
• Protected areas: About 20 percent of forests (813 million hectares) are in legally established protected areas, an increase of 251 million hectares since 1990.
• Management plans: More than half of forests worldwide (2.13 billion hectares, or 55 percent of total area) are under management plans, up 365 million hectares since 1990.
• Disturbances: Fire affects an average of 261 million hectares of land annually, nearly half of which is forested. In 2020, insects, diseases and severe weather damaged about 41 million hectares of forests, mainly in temperate and boreal regions.
• Ownership: Seventy-one percent of the world’s forests are publicly owned, 24 percent are privately owned, with the remainder under other or unknown ownership.
• Management objectives: Around 1.20 billion hectares (29 percent of forests) are managed primarily for production, and 616 million hectares for multiple use. Additional areas are designated for biodiversity conservation (482 million hectares), soil and water protection (386 million hectares), and social services (221 million hectares). 

DIGITAL TOOLS AND GLOBAL COLLABORATION

FRA 2025 introduces advanced digital features for better transparency and accessibility. Users can explore an interactive online database, integrate data through an open API, and access multilingual country reports in PDF format.

The report is the outcome of a country-driven process, with officially nominated correspondents from 197 countries working alongside international organizations to improve data accuracy and consistency. These findings support global environmental frameworks such as the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the Paris Agreement, the Kunming–Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, and the United Nations Strategic Plan for Forests 2017–2030.

FAO’s next Global Forest Resources Assessment will be released in 2030, continuing its five-year cycle of tracking the planet’s forest health and management trends.