Forest area in Nigeria

Forests covered 18.9% of the land area of Nigeria in 2024. The value for 2024 is the lowest in the series, which starts in 1990.

Measure: Forest area as a share of land area Unit: % of land area Data: 1990 to 2024 Source: World Bank
Nigeria, 2024 18.9% % of land area
Change from 2023 −0.1percentage points 2023: 19.1%
World, 2023 31.1% Official aggregate Not the same period as Nigeria (2024).
Position in 2024 132nd of 209 See the full ranking

Forest area in Nigeria over time

View
Places
2 selected
Nigeria World ×

% 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 2024
Period NigeriaWorld
2024 18.9% –
2023 19.1% 31.1%
2022 19.2% 31.1%
2021 19.4% 31.2%
2020 19.5% 31.2%
2019 19.6% 31.2%
2018 19.8% 31.3%
2017 19.9% 31.3%
2016 20.1% 31.3%
2015 20.2% 31.4%
2014 20.3% 31.4%
2013 20.5% 31.4%
2012 20.6% 31.5%
2011 20.8% 31.9%
2010 20.9% 31.9%
2009 21.0% 32.0%
2008 21.2% 32.0%
2007 21.3% 32.1%
2006 21.5% 32.1%
2005 21.6% 32.1%
2004 21.7% 32.2%
2003 21.9% 32.3%
2002 22.0% 32.3%
2001 22.2% 32.3%
2000 22.3% 32.4%

A dash means no value was published for that period.

In short

  • That is a change of −0.1 percentage points from 19.1% in 2023.
  • Since 2014, when it was 20.3%, the figure has changed by −1.4 percentage points.
  • Among the 209 countries with data for 2024, Nigeria has the 132nd highest value.

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 2024 for Nigeria
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)