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Climate · Africa ranking

Forest Area by African country

91.2%Gabon leads · 2023

Gabon has the highest forest area as a share of land of any African country, at 91.2%, ahead of Equatorial Guinea and Liberia.

Forest area as a share of total land area. 54 of 54 countries, ranked · World Bank — World Development Indicators, 2023.

#1 vs #542018×Gabon vs Egypt
Median21.3%Madagascar
Lowest0%Egypt

By region

regional average
Central Africa53.5%
9 countries · led by Gabon
West Africa26.9%
16 countries · led by Liberia
Southern Africa26.1%
7 countries · led by Zambia
East Africa20.8%
16 countries · led by Seychelles
North Africa4.7%
6 countries · led by Morocco

Full ranking

54 of 54 countries
#CountryForest AreaPeriod
1Gabon
91.2%2023
2Equatorial Guinea
86.4%2023
3Liberia
78.1%2023
4Seychelles
73.3%2023
5Guinea-Bissau
69.5%2023
6Republic of the Congo
64.1%2023
7Zambia
59.5%2023
8Democratic Republic of the Congo
54.2%2023
9Sao Tome and Principe
52.1%2023
10Angola
52.1%2023
11Tanzania
50.1%2023
12Mozambique
45.8%2023
13Zimbabwe
44.7%2023
14Cameroon
42.7%2023
15Senegal
41.3%2023
16Central African Republic
35.7%2023
17Ghana
35.2%2023
18Sierra Leone
34.3%2023
19Eswatini
29.1%2023
20Benin
26.5%2023
21Botswana
26.3%2023
22Guinea
24.7%2023
23Nigeria
23.2%2023
24Malawi
22.4%2023
25Gambia
22.3%2023
26Burkina Faso
22.2%2023
27Togo
22.1%2023
28Madagascar
21.3%2023
29Mauritius
19.5%2023
30Comoros
17%2023
31Ethiopia
14.9%2023
32South Africa
14%2023
33Morocco
12.9%2023
34Cabo Verde
11.6%2023
35South Sudan
11.3%2023
36Rwanda
11.3%2023
37Uganda
11%2023
38Mali
10.9%2023
39Burundi
10.9%2023
40Sudan
9.6%2023
41Somalia
9.2%2023
42Eritrea
8.6%2023
43Cote d'Ivoire
7.9%2023
44Namibia
7.8%2023
45Kenya
6.2%2023
46Tunisia
4.6%2023
47Chad
3.2%2023
48Lesotho
1.1%2023
49Algeria
0.8%2023
50Niger
0.8%2023
51Mauritania
0.3%2023
52Djibouti
0.3%2023
53Libya
0.1%2023
54Egypt
0%2023

Get this ranking via API

GET /v1/data

One call to /v1/data returns the latest Forest Area figure for every country you pass — JSON, with source metadata on each observation.

curl "https://api.africa-api.com/v1/data?metric_key=forest_area_pct_land&latest=true&country_codes=NG,KE,ZA,EG" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $AFRICA_API_KEY"

Cite or republish this ranking

Data: Africa APIWorld Bank — World Development Indicators, 2023. Free to republish with a link to this page. Pull the live figures via the API above so your version never goes stale.

Embed this ranking

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Drop this chart into your article or site — it stays live as the data updates. Paste the snippet anywhere HTML is allowed (a citation link is included).

<iframe src="https://africa-api.com/embed/forest-area" width="100%" height="560" loading="lazy" style="border:1px solid #e3e3e3;border-radius:10px;max-width:640px" title="Forest Area by African country — Africa API"></iframe>
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Frequently asked questions

Which African country has the highest forest area as a share of land?

Gabon has the highest forest area as a share of land in Africa at 91.2% (2023), followed by Equatorial Guinea and Liberia.

Which African country has the lowest forest area as a share of land?

Egypt has the lowest forest area as a share of land of the 54 African countries with data, at 0% (2023).

How many African countries report Forest Area data?

54 of 54 African countries have a recent Forest Area figure in the Africa API. Each value links to the country's full series with source and history.

How do I get this ranking via API?

Call GET /v1/data?metric_key=forest_area_pct_land&latest=true with the country codes you need and a free Africa API key — the response returns the latest value per country as JSON.

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