World Bank Data · 208 countries

Countries With Most Forest Coverage

Source·World Bank Open DataUpdated·Apr 12, 2026Reviewed by·Population Review Data Team

Raw data·Download countries.csv· no email required ·all datasets

Forests cover roughly 31% of the world's land surface and play a critical role in carbon sequestration, biodiversity, water cycling, and indigenous livelihoods. Suriname, Gabon, and the Solomon Islands have the highest forest coverage as a percentage of land area, often exceeding 90%. These countries contain some of the most biodiverse ecosystems on Earth. The Amazon rainforest, spanning Brazil and neighboring countries, is the world's largest tropical forest and is often called the "lungs of the Earth" for its carbon absorption capacity. Deforestation, driven by agriculture, logging, mining, and urbanization, destroys roughly 10 million hectares of forest annually, contributing significantly to climate change and species extinction.

Key Findings

1Suriname leads with a forest area percentage of 94.4%, followed by Micronesia, Fed. Sts. (92.2%) and Gabon (91.2%).
2The gap between #1 Suriname and #208 Greenland (0.0%) is 9444.7 percentage points.
3The national median across all states is 32.4% (Serbia at the midpoint).
4The top 10 states are: Suriname, Micronesia, Fed. Sts., Gabon, Palau, Solomon Islands, Guyana, Equatorial Guinea, American Samoa, Papua New Guinea, Liberia.

Full Ranking: Countries With Most Forest Coverage

Source: Census ACS 5-Year Estimates

#	Country	Forest %	Population	CO2 (tonnes)
1	Zimbabwe	44.7	16,340,822	-
2	Zambia	59.5	20,723,965	-
3	Yemen, Rep.	1	39,390,799	-
4	Virgin Islands (U.S.)	58.2	104,917	-
5	Viet Nam	47.4	100,352,192	-
6	Venezuela, RB	52.2	28,300,854	-
7	Vanuatu	36.3	320,409	-
8	Uzbekistan	8.5	35,652,307	-
9	Uruguay	12	3,388,081	-
10	United States	33.9	336,806,231	-
11	United Kingdom	13.3	68,492,000	-
12	United Arab Emirates	4.5	10,483,751	-
13	Ukraine	16.8	37,732,836	-
14	Uganda	11	48,656,601	-
15	Tuvalu	33.3	9,816	-
16	Turks and Caicos Islands	11.1	46,198	-
17	Turkmenistan	8.8	7,364,438	-
18	Turkiye	29.5	85,325,965	-
19	Tunisia	4.6	12,200,431	-
20	Trinidad and Tobago	44.2	1,367,510	-
21	Tonga	12.4	104,597	-
22	Togo	22.1	9,304,337	-
23	Timor-Leste	61.7	1,384,286	-
24	Thailand	38.7	71,702,435	-
25	Tanzania	50.1	66,617,606	-
26	Tajikistan	3.1	10,389,799	-
27	Taiwan	60	23,400,000	11.2
28	Syrian Arab Republic	2.8	23,594,623	-
29	Switzerland	32.4	8,888,822	-
30	Sweden	68.7	10,536,632	-
31	Suriname	94.4	628,886	-
32	Sudan	9.6	50,042,791	-
33	St. Vincent and the Grenadines	73.2	101,323	-
34	St. Martin (French part)	24.8	27,515	-
35	St. Lucia	34	179,285	-
36	St. Kitts and Nevis	42.3	46,758	-
37	Sri Lanka	34	22,037,000	-
38	Spain	37.2	48,352,528	-
39	South Sudan	11.3	11,483,374	-
40	South Africa	14	63,212,384	-
41	Somalia, Fed. Rep.	9.2	18,358,615	-
42	Solomon Islands	90.1	800,005	-
43	Slovenia	61.2	2,120,461	-
44	Slovak Republic	40.1	5,426,740	-
45	Sint Maarten (Dutch part)	10.9	42,749	-
46	Singapore	20.9	5,917,648	-
47	Sierra Leone	34.3	8,460,512	-
48	Seychelles	73.3	119,773	-
49	Serbia	32.4	6,623,183	-
50	Senegal	41.3	18,077,573	-
51	Saudi Arabia	0.5	33,702,731	-
52	Sao Tome and Principe	52.1	230,871	-
53	San Marino	16.7	33,860	-
54	Samoa	57.6	216,663	-
55	Rwanda	11.3	13,954,471	-
56	Russian Federation	49.8	143,826,130	-
57	Romania	30.1	19,061,062	-
58	Puerto Rico (US)	56.1	3,203,792	-
59	Portugal	36.2	10,578,174	-
60	Poland	31.1	36,687,353	-
61	Philippines	24.5	114,891,199	-
62	Peru	56.1	33,845,617	-
63	Paraguay	38.5	6,844,146	-
64	Papua New Guinea	79	10,389,635	-
65	Panama	56.3	4,458,759	-
66	Palau	90.5	17,727	-
67	Pakistan	4.7	247,504,495	-
68	Oman	0	5,049,269	-
69	Norway	33.5	5,519,601	-
70	Northern Mariana Islands	53	45,143	-
71	North Macedonia	39.7	1,827,816	-
72	Nigeria	23.2	227,882,945	-
73	Niger	0.8	26,159,867	-
74	Nicaragua	25.8	6,823,613	-
75	New Zealand	37.8	5,200,000	-
76	New Caledonia	45.8	289,870	-
77	Netherlands	11.1	17,877,117	-
78	Nepal	41.6	29,694,614	-
79	Namibia	7.8	2,963,095	-
80	Myanmar	42.4	54,133,798	-
81	Mozambique	45.8	33,635,160	-
82	Morocco	12.9	37,712,505	-
83	Montenegro	61.5	623,529	-
84	Mongolia	9.1	3,481,145	-
85	Moldova	11.7	2,457,783	-
86	Micronesia, Fed. Sts.	92.2	112,630	-
87	Mexico	33.6	129,739,759	-
88	Mauritius	19.5	1,248,647	-
89	Mauritania	0.3	5,022,441	-
90	Marshall Islands	52.2	38,827	-
91	Malta	1.4	552,747	-
92	Mali	10.9	23,769,127	-
93	Maldives	2.8	525,994	-
94	Malaysia	57.7	35,126,298	-
95	Malawi	22.4	21,104,482	-
96	Madagascar	21.3	31,195,932	-
97	Luxembourg	34.5	666,430	-
98	Lithuania	35.2	2,871,585	-
99	Liechtenstein	41.9	39,846	-
100	Libya	0.1	7,305,659	-
101	Liberia	78.1	5,493,031	-
102	Lesotho	1.1	2,311,472	-
103	Lebanon	14.2	5,773,493	-
104	Latvia	55	1,883,710	-
105	Lao PDR	71.5	7,664,993	-
106	Kyrgyz Republic	7.1	7,099,750	-
107	Kuwait	0.4	4,853,420	-
108	Korea, Rep.	64.1	51,712,619	-
109	Korea, Dem. People's Rep.	49.6	26,418,204	-
110	Kiribati	1.5	132,530	-
111	Kenya	6.2	55,339,003	-
112	Kazakhstan	1.3	20,330,104	-
113	Jordan	1.1	11,439,213	-
114	Japan	68.4	124,516,650	-
115	Jamaica	56.2	2,839,786	-
116	Italy	32.9	58,984,216	-
117	Isle of Man	6.1	84,165	-
118	Ireland	11.5	5,311,538	-
119	Iraq	1.9	45,074,049	-
120	Iran, Islamic Rep.	6.6	90,608,707	-
121	Indonesia	47.7	281,190,067	-
122	India	24.5	1,438,069,596	-
123	Iceland	0.5	385,663	-
124	Hungary	22.4	9,592,186	-
125	Honduras	56.3	10,644,851	-
126	Haiti	12.3	11,637,398	-
127	Guyana	87.1	826,353	-
128	Guinea-Bissau	69.5	2,153,339	-
129	Guinea	24.7	14,405,468	-
130	Guatemala	32.6	18,124,838	-
131	Guam	51.9	166,506	-
132	Grenada	52.1	117,081	-
133	Greenland	0	56,865	-
134	Greece	30.3	10,407,351	-
135	Ghana	35.2	33,787,914	-
136	Germany	32.7	83,287,273	-
137	Georgia	40.6	3,715,483	-
138	Gambia, The	22.3	2,697,845	-
139	Gabon	91.2	2,484,789	-
140	French Polynesia	43.1	281,118	-
141	France	32.5	68,372,286	-
142	Finland	73.7	5,583,911	-
143	Fiji	63.5	924,145	-
144	Faroe Islands	0.1	54,414	-
145	Ethiopia	14.9	128,691,692	-
146	Eswatini	29.1	1,230,506	-
147	Estonia	57.1	1,370,286	-
148	Eritrea	8.6	3,470,390	-
149	Equatorial Guinea	86.4	1,847,549	-
150	El Salvador	27.5	6,309,624	-
151	Egypt, Arab Rep.	0	114,535,772	-
152	Ecuador	49.5	17,980,083	-
153	Dominican Republic	45	11,331,265	-
154	Dominica	63.8	66,510	-
155	Djibouti	0.3	1,152,944	-
156	Denmark	15.8	5,946,952	-
157	Czechia	34.8	10,864,042	-
158	Cyprus	18.7	1,344,976	-
159	Curacao	0.2	154,654	-
160	Cuba	31.2	11,019,931	-
161	Croatia	34.8	3,859,686	-
162	Cote d'Ivoire	7.9	31,165,654	-
163	Costa Rica	60.4	5,105,525	-
164	Congo, Rep.	64.1	6,182,885	-
165	Congo, Dem. Rep.	54.2	105,789,731	-
166	Comoros	17	850,387	-
167	Colombia	52.8	52,321,152	-
168	China	24	1,410,710,000	-
169	Chile	25	19,658,835	-
170	Chad	3.2	19,319,064	-
171	Central African Republic	35.7	5,152,421	-
172	Cayman Islands	52.5	73,038	-
173	Canada	39.5	40,083,484	-
174	Cameroon	42.7	28,372,687	-
175	Cambodia	43.1	17,423,880	-
176	Cabo Verde	11.6	522,331	-
177	Burundi	10.9	13,689,450	-
178	Burkina Faso	22.2	23,025,776	-
179	Bulgaria	36.2	6,446,596	-
180	Brunei Darussalam	72.1	458,949	-
181	British Virgin Islands	24.1	38,985	-
182	Brazil	59	211,140,729	-
183	Botswana	26.3	2,480,244	-
184	Bosnia and Herzegovina	42.7	3,185,073	-
185	Bolivia	46.3	12,244,159	-
186	Bhutan	71.6	786,385	-
187	Bermuda	18.5	64,698	-
188	Benin	26.5	14,111,034	-
189	Belize	54.5	411,106	-
190	Belgium	22.6	11,779,946	-
191	Belarus	43.4	9,178,298	-
192	Barbados	14.7	282,336	-
193	Bangladesh	14.5	171,466,990	-
194	Bahrain	1	1,577,059	-
195	Bahamas, The	50.9	399,440	-
196	Azerbaijan	14.1	10,153,958	-
197	Austria	47.2	9,131,761	-
198	Australia	17.4	26,659,922	-
199	Aruba	2.3	107,359	-
200	Armenia	11.6	2,964,300	-
201	Argentina	10.3	45,538,401	-
202	Antigua and Barbuda	18	93,316	-
203	Angola	52.1	36,749,906	-
204	Andorra	34	80,856	-
205	American Samoa	85.2	47,521	-
206	Algeria	0.8	46,164,219	-
207	Albania	28.8	2,414,095	-
208	Afghanistan	1.9	41,454,761	-

Methodology

Rankings are based on American Community Survey (ACS) 5-Year estimates from the US Census Bureau. All 50 states and the District of Columbia are included. The ACS surveys approximately 3.5 million households annually and provides detailed demographic, social, economic, and housing data. 5-Year estimates offer the most reliable data for state-level comparisons by averaging responses over a 60-month period. Percentages may not sum to 100% due to rounding.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Suriname has the highest forest area percentage at 94.4%, according to latest Census ACS data. Micronesia, Fed. Sts. and Gabon round out the top three.

Greenland has the lowest forest area percentage at 0.0%. Oman is second-lowest at 0.0%.

The median across all 208 states is 32.4%. Note that the national median and the state-level median are calculated differently, the state median represents the midpoint when all states are ranked.

This data comes from the American Community Survey (ACS) 5-Year estimates published by the US Census Bureau. The ACS surveys approximately 3.5 million households annually and provides the most comprehensive demographic data available between decennial censuses.

Rankings are based on the latest available Census ACS 5-Year estimates. The Census Bureau releases new ACS data annually. Our data was last updated on April 12, 2026.

Sources: US Census Bureau ACS 5-Year Estimates

Source: U.S. Census Bureau ACS, 2026.