AmericaUnited States / Environment
U.S. Forest Area as Share of Land.
What does forest coverage tell us—and what does it miss?
The historical record
Older reporting period2023
Latest observation in this snapshot—not a real-time reading. 0.0 pp vs 2022.
Fitted vertical axis · missing periods are not interpolated · annual
What the number means
Forest area as a share of land area.
Area alone cannot establish forest health, biodiversity, carbon storage, or resilience. Changes in classification and land-use definitions can affect comparisons. A stable percentage is not evidence that every ecosystem is thriving.
Coverage alone does not measure ecosystem quality, biodiversity, or wildfire risk.
A better question to ask
For land projects, require a defined area, baseline condition, stewardship plan, and measurable ecological outcomes.
This is a prompt for investigation, not evidence that a particular policy works. A trend alone cannot establish a cause.
Read the related practical guide ↗Exact observations
24 available observations since 2000. Annual and quarterly dates represent the start of the reporting period; fiscal years are labeled explicitly. Display values are rounded to the precision shown; downloads retain the source values.
Open the complete data table
| Reporting period | Period start | Value |
|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 2023-01-01 | 33.9% |
| 2022 | 2022-01-01 | 33.9% |
| 2021 | 2021-01-01 | 33.9% |
| 2020 | 2020-01-01 | 33.9% |
| 2019 | 2019-01-01 | 33.9% |
| 2018 | 2018-01-01 | 33.9% |
| 2017 | 2017-01-01 | 33.9% |
| 2016 | 2016-01-01 | 33.9% |
| 2015 | 2015-01-01 | 33.9% |
| 2014 | 2014-01-01 | 33.9% |
| 2013 | 2013-01-01 | 33.8% |
| 2012 | 2012-01-01 | 33.8% |
| 2011 | 2011-01-01 | 33.8% |
| 2010 | 2010-01-01 | 33.7% |
| 2009 | 2009-01-01 | 33.7% |
| 2008 | 2008-01-01 | 33.6% |
| 2007 | 2007-01-01 | 33.5% |
| 2006 | 2006-01-01 | 33.5% |
| 2005 | 2005-01-01 | 33.4% |
| 2004 | 2004-01-01 | 33.4% |
| 2003 | 2003-01-01 | 33.3% |
| 2002 | 2002-01-01 | 33.2% |
| 2001 | 2001-01-01 | 33.2% |
| 2000 | 2000-01-01 | 33.1% |
Follow this series home
- Series identifier
- AG.LND.FRST.ZS
- Provider
- World Bank / original statistical sources
- Original source attribution
- FAOSTAT, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), uri: https://www.fao.org/faostat/en/#data/RL, publisher: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)
- Frequency
- Annual
- Source units
- % of land
- Displayed units
- % of land
- Retrieval time
- 2026-10-04T09:04:46.416Z
- Provider database update
- 2026-07-13 — not the observation date
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