Forest area in European Union

Forests covered 40.1% of the land area of the European Union in 2023. The value for 2023 is the highest in the series, which starts in 1990.

Measure: Forest area as a share of land area Unit: % of land area Data: 1990 to 2023 Source: World Bank
European Union is a group: European Union, 27 member states (composition from February 2020). The value is the aggregate published by World Bank, not an average calculated on this site.
European Union, 2023 40.1% % of land area
Change from 2022 0percentage points 2022: 40.0%
World, 2023 31.1% Official aggregate

Forest area in European Union over time

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% of land area. Source: World Bank, World Development Indicators. Gaps mean no published value; points are not joined across missing years.

Forest area as a share of land area (% of land area), 2000 to 2023
Period European UnionWorld
2023 40.1% 31.1%
2022 40.0% 31.1%
2021 40.0% 31.2%
2020 39.9% 31.2%
2019 39.9% 31.2%
2018 39.8% 31.3%
2017 39.8% 31.3%
2016 39.7% 31.3%
2015 39.7% 31.4%
2014 39.6% 31.4%
2013 39.5% 31.4%
2012 39.4% 31.5%
2011 39.4% 31.9%
2010 39.3% 31.9%
2009 39.2% 32.0%
2008 39.1% 32.0%
2007 38.9% 32.1%
2006 38.8% 32.1%
2005 38.7% 32.1%
2004 38.6% 32.2%
2003 38.4% 32.3%
2002 38.3% 32.3%
2001 38.2% 32.3%
2000 38.1% 32.4%

A dash means no value was published for that period.

In short

  • That is a change of 0 percentage points from 40.0% in 2022.
  • Since 2013, when it was 39.5%, the figure has changed by +0.5 percentage points.
  • The figure for the world in 2023 was 31.1%.

More for European Union

All statistics for European Union

Source and dates

Original producer
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)
Distributed by
World Bank, World Development Indicators
Dataset or series code
AG.LND.FRST.ZS · dataset details · view at source
Observation period
1990 to 2023 for European Union
Provider update
8 October 2026
Retrieved
9 November 2026
Published here
9 November 2026
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (per series metadata)
Attribution
Source: World Bank, World Development Indicators, original data: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)