Is the world still losing its forests, and how fast?
Deforestation is slowing, yet the world still loses forest, and the answer depends on whether you count gross loss, net loss or tree cover.
▶ Start the storyThe world is still losing forest, but more slowly than it used to. According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), deforestation means the conversion of forest to other land use, whether or not it is human-induced. Its 2020 assessment, covering 236 countries and territories from 1990 to 2020, showed that although the rate of deforestation has slowed, the world's forest area continues to decrease.
The numbers are worth keeping apart. In that assessment, an estimated 420 million hectares of forest had been deforested since 1990, at 10 million hectares a year in 2015 to 2020, down from 12 million in 2010 to 2015. , which also counts forest that grows back or is planted, fell from 7.8 million hectares a year in the 1990s to 4.7 million in 2010 to 2020, because some countries cut less while others gained forest through and natural expansion.
Net forest loss per year, FAO assessment 2020
million ha per year
| Net forest loss | |
|---|---|
| 1990-2000 | 7.8 million ha per year |
| 2000-2010 | 5.2 million ha per year |
| 2010-2020 | 4.7 million ha per year |
The picture differs by region. In 2010 to 2020 Africa had the highest net forest loss, at 3.9 million hectares a year, followed by South America at 2.6 million, while Asia had the highest net gain.
The FAO's next assessment, FRA 2025, released in October 2025, found deforestation slowing in every region: about 489 million hectares lost since 1990, with deforestation at 10.9 million hectares a year in 2015 to 2025, down from 17.6 million in the 1990s. It also revised the older figures, and on its numbers edged up in 2015 to 2025, to 4.12 million hectares a year, because new forest grew more slowly.
Deforestation rate, FAO assessment 2025
million ha per year
| Deforestation rate | |
|---|---|
| 1990-2000 | 17.6 million ha per year |
| 2000-2015 | 13.6 million ha per year |
| 2015-2025 | 10.9 million ha per year |
Where does a person come in? One estimate says the consumption patterns of countries cost an average of 3.9 trees per person per year, and deforestation can be tied directly to imports such as coffee.
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Recap
The rate of deforestation has slowed, but the world still loses forest, and gross loss, net loss and tree cover loss are different numbers.
💡 A trick to remember it · Count the axe, count the seedlings, and count the canopy: three different ledgers for one forest.
Surprising fact · In the FAO's 2025 assessment, the deforestation rate fell while the net loss of forest rose between 2015 and 2025.
Sources (3)
No source, no claim. Every fact in this lesson (18 claims) cites at least one of these.