Global forest cover reached approximately 4.14 billion hectares in 2025, equivalent to roughly 32 percent of the world’s land area. Data compiled by Visual Capitalist from the UN Food and Agriculture Organization shows that just five countries hold more than half of this total resource, while the 15 countries in the global ranking account for nearly three-quarters of the world’s forest area.
The Five Nations Dominating Global Forest Cover
Forests are among the planet’s most important natural resources, storing carbon, supporting biodiversity, and supplying everything from timber to clean water. But forest cover is distributed unevenly around the world, with a small number of countries accounting for a large share of the global total. According to data from the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, compiled by Visual Capitalist, Russia claimed the largest forest area in the world in 2025 with about 833 million hectares, or 20.1 percent of the global total.
Russia’s vast forest coverage is closely linked to the country’s geography, with much of its forest stretching across Siberia to form part of the enormous boreal forest belt that spans the northern reaches of the planet. Brazil followed in second place with about 486 million hectares, or 11.7 percent of the global total. The country’s forests include large areas of tropical forest in the Amazon, making Brazil one of the world’s most important countries for forest conservation and biodiversity.
Canada ranked third with approximately 369 million hectares of forest, representing 8.9 percent of the world’s total, with its forests forming part of the vast boreal forest region that stretches across much of the country’s northern territory. The United States ranked fourth, with about 309 million hectares of forest, accounting for 7.5 percent of the global total. China ranked fifth with about 227 million hectares, or 5.5 percent of the global total. Together, Russia, Brazil, Canada, the United States and China account for more than half of the world’s forest area.
Regional Rankings From the Congo Basin to South America
Beyond the top five, eight of the 15 countries in the ranking are located in the Americas. The Democratic Republic of the Congo ranked sixth with approximately 139 million hectares of forest, representing 3.4 percent of global forest area. Its forests form a major part of the Congo Basin, one of the world’s most significant tropical forest regions.
Australia ranked seventh with about 134 million hectares of forest, equivalent to 3.2 percent of the global total, with forest landscapes ranging from tropical and subtropical forests to eucalyptus-dominated woodlands and other forest ecosystems. Indonesia ranked eighth with approximately 96 million hectares of forest, accounting for 2.3 percent of global forest area across numerous islands that include important tropical ecosystems supporting diverse plant and animal species.
India ranked ninth with about 73 million hectares of forest, representing 1.8 percent of the global total, ranging across several ecological zones from Himalayan forests to tropical forests in central and southern India. Peru ranked 10th with approximately 67 million hectares of forest, or 1.6 percent of global forest area, with much of the country’s forest lying within the Amazon Basin and making Peru one of the world’s major tropical forest countries.
Mexico ranked 11th with about 66 million hectares of forest, equivalent to 1.6 percent of the global total, encompassing a range of ecosystems including tropical forests, temperate forests and other wooded landscapes. Angola ranked 12th with approximately 63 million hectares of forest, representing 1.5 percent of global forest area, standing as one of the two African nations outside the Democratic Republic of the Congo to appear in the top 15. Colombia ranked 13th with about 59 million hectares of forest, accounting for 1.4 percent of the global total, with large areas located within the Amazon and other tropical ecosystems. Bolivia ranked 14th with approximately 54 million hectares of forest, or 1.3 percent of global forest area.
Ecosystem Functions and Water Security Stakes
Forests serve critical ecological functions well beyond storing carbon and supporting biodiversity. Beyond supporting biodiversity and storing carbon, U.S. forests are also an important source of water, generating about 46 percent of the surface water supply in the contiguous United States by capturing precipitation, filtering water and feeding rivers and reservoirs.
