Deforestation statistics for Nicaragua

Nicaragua: Demographic data

Population (2022)	6,624,554
Annual population growth rate (2022)	1.20%
Population density (people/sq km)	55
Net migration	-21,272
Fertility rate	2.4
Median age	26
Urban population share	57%

Nicaragua: Land cover and land use change data

Land area (sq km): 120,340

Tree cover (30%)
Tree cover extent in 2000 (ha): 7,776,815
Tree cover extent as % of land area: 64.60%

Tree cover loss from 2001-20 (ha): 1,585,081
Tree cover extent as % of 2000 tree cover: 20.40%

Tropical primary forest
Primary forest extent in 2001 (ha): 2,020,209
Primary forest extent as % of land area: 16.80%
Primary forest extent as % of 2000 tree cover: 26.00%

Primary forest loss from 2002-20 (ha): 513,102
Primary forest loss from 2002-20 as % of 2001 primary forest cover: 25.40%

Primary forest extent in 2020 (ha): 1,507,107
Primary forest extent in 2020 as % of land area: 12.50%
Primary forest extent in 2020 as % of 2000 tree cover area: 19%

Nicaragua: Annual forest and tree cover data

Nicaragua: Tropical primary forest loss by year All figures in hectares

Year: Hectares
2002: 5,755
2003: 5,124
2004: 3,183
2005: 11,310
2006: 8,820
2007: 36,160
2008: 8,021
2009: 16,023
2010: 30,518
2011: 14,501
2012: 7,265
2013: 14,016
2014: 23,321
2015: 12,543
2016: 47,410
2017: 150,585
2018: 32,009
2019: 33,913
2020: 52,626

Nicaragua: Tree cover loss by year 30% tree cover threshold; all figures in hectares

Year: Hectares
2001: 44,110
2002: 54,195
2003: 46,964
2004: 21,065
2005: 95,150
2006: 38,875
2007: 88,500
2008: 53,814
2009: 83,097
2010: 212,520
2011: 43,290
2012: 33,723
2013: 44,038
2014: 75,563
2015: 35,524
2016: 142,444
2017: 211,681
2018: 71,375
2019: 77,848
2020: 111,303

Tree cover loss by year at the subnational level (administrative level 1)

Sub-national admin area 1	Tree cover extent (2001) ha	Tree cover loss (2001-05) ha	Tree cover loss (2006-10) ha	Tree cover loss (2011-15) ha	Tree cover loss (2016-20) ha	Tree cover loss (2001-20) ha	Tree cover loss (2001-20) %
Atlántico Norte	2,384,815	66,236	167,271	98,930	250,368	582,805	24.4%
Lago Nicaragua	26,903	289	537	186	636	1,649	6.1%
León	195,103	5,120	5,243	2,544	1,215	14,122	7.2%
Madriz	85,530	936	908	410	801	3,056	3.6%
Managua	160,718	2,144	2,627	1,396	549	6,717	4.2%
Masaya	29,244	164	272	171	262	868	3.0%
Matagalpa	482,447	11,288	19,046	3,824	9,681	43,839	9.1%
Nueva Segovia	202,649	9,839	4,719	2,265	2,732	19,555	9.6%
Río San Juan	556,883	20,891	37,774	8,592	106,759	174,016	31.2%
Rivas	96,112	2,204	3,418	1,732	1,300	8,654	9.0%
Atlántico Sur	1,847,962	103,141	175,723	81,483	169,307	529,654	28.7%
Boaco	161,360	5,760	8,576	931	2,314	17,581	10.9%
Carazo	69,324	861	1,422	781	454	3,518	5.1%
Chinandega	182,757	5,331	5,450	2,829	3,468	17,079	9.3%
Chontales	285,712	10,398	13,719	3,135	2,453	29,705	10.4%
Estelí	120,615	958	953	482	791	3,183	2.6%
Granada	43,048	319	608	286	823	2,037	4.7%
Jinotega	845,627	15,603	28,541	22,161	60,738	127,042	15.0%

Tree cover loss by year at the subnational level (administrative level 2)

Sub-national admin area 1	Admin area 2	Tree cover extent (2000) ha	Tree cover loss (2001-05) ha	Tree cover loss (2006-10) ha	Tree cover loss (2011-15) ha	Tree cover loss (2016-20) ha	Tree cover loss (2001-20) ha	Tree cover loss (2001-20) %
Atlántico Norte	Bonanza	129,569	2,937	13,967	6,646	17,027	40,577	31.3%
Atlántico Norte	Prinzapolka	118,542	341	1,327	2,747	23,456	27,871	23.5%
Atlántico Norte	Puerto Cabezas	55,353	920	3,022	1,196	8,085	13,224	23.9%
Atlántico Norte	Rosita	210,124	4,472	32,710	20,495	49,211	106,889	50.9%
Atlántico Norte	Siuna	109,350	5,039	12,491	5,452	12,071	35,053	32.1%
Atlántico Norte	Waslala	9,308	185	511	205	520	1,420	15.3%
Atlántico Norte	Waspán	355,971	965	6,050	7,041	17,459	31,516	8.9%
Lago Nicaragua	Lago de Nicaragua	2,128	6	22	5	56	89	4.2%
León	Telica	217	7	2	1	5	15	6.8%
León	El Jicaral	857	37	40	45	5	127	14.8%
León	La Paz Centro	871	5	24	9	18	55	6.3%
León	Larreynaga-Malpaisillo	80	2	2	0	0	4	5.4%
León	León	3,858	5	7	23	11	46	1.2%
León	Nagarote	450	0	0	4	0	4	0.9%
Madriz	Las Sabanas	539	0	1	0	4	5	0.9%
Madriz	San Lucas	0	0	0	0	0	0	0.0%
Madriz	Telpaneca	503	0	1	1	13	15	3.0%
Managua	San Francisco Libre	103	0	1	3	2	7	6.7%
Matagalpa	Ciudad Darío	119	0	0	0	0	1	0.4%
Matagalpa	San Ramón	4,848	19	100	83	219	421	8.7%
Matagalpa	Sébaco	52	0	0	0	0	0	0.1%
Matagalpa	Terrabona	59	0	0	0	1	1	2.2%
Matagalpa	Tuma-La Dalia	1,145	2	25	6	13	46	4.0%
Matagalpa	Esquipulas	717	1	12	2	15	30	4.1%
Matagalpa	Matagalpa	4,716	7	22	29	73	130	2.8%
Matagalpa	Matiguás	4,405	6	23	6	43	78	1.8%
Matagalpa	Muy Muy	627	5	5	4	27	40	6.4%
Matagalpa	Rancho Grande	7,482	46	123	56	301	526	7.0%
Matagalpa	Río Blanco	2,272	21	17	4	17	58	2.5%
Matagalpa	San Dionisio	341	0	0	1	0	1	0.3%
Nueva Segovia	San Fernando	351	5	15	7	4	31	8.9%
Nueva Segovia	Ciudad Sandino	25	0	0	0	0	0	0.6%
Nueva Segovia	Dipilto	440	1	1	3	14	19	4.2%
Nueva Segovia	Jalapa	3,088	16	50	71	36	173	5.6%
Nueva Segovia	Mozonte	1,035	1	5	4	3	13	1.2%
Río San Juan	San Carlos	71,759	672	1,768	917	20,131	23,488	32.7%
Río San Juan	San Juan del Norte	139,626	46	92	171	74,889	75,198	53.9%
Rivas	Altagracia	4,054	15	34	10	24	83	2.0%
Rivas	Moyogalpa	67	0	0	0	0	1	0.8%
Rivas	Tola	925	6	8	5	29	48	5.2%
Atlántico Sur	Bluefields	131,104	572	2,455	1,474	31,326	35,827	27.3%
Atlántico Sur	Bocana de Paiwas	120	1	5	4	36	46	38.3%
Atlántico Sur	El Rama	1	0	0	0	0	0	46.2%
Atlántico Sur	Kukra Hill	892	1	9	9	43	62	6.9%
Atlántico Sur	La Cruz de Río Grande	39,401	1,407	4,077	3,415	5,932	14,831	37.6%
Atlántico Sur	Laguna de Perlas	155,886	2,000	8,032	10,575	20,589	41,196	26.4%
Atlántico Sur	Nueva Guinea	211	21	37	9	38	104	49.4%
Boaco	Camoapa	24	0	1	0	2	3	12.4%
Chinandega	Chichigalpa	899	2	1	3	8	15	1.6%
Chinandega	Somotillo	4,841	5	23	36	49	113	2.3%
Chinandega	Villanueva	1,334	178	80	43	127	427	32.0%
Chinandega	Chinandega	9,342	226	141	107	257	730	7.8%
Chinandega	Corinto	2,707	0	0	0	8	8	0.3%
Chinandega	El Realejo	1,933	1	6	5	25	37	1.9%
Chinandega	El Viejo	15,737	197	253	196	605	1,251	8.0%
Chinandega	Posoltega	193	0	5	0	0	5	2.8%
Chinandega	Puerto Morazán	1,884	1	5	4	7	16	0.8%
Estelí	Condega	1,347	1	4	2	18	24	1.8%
Estelí	Estelí	693	1	2	2	3	8	1.1%
Estelí	Pueblo Nuevo	809	0	2	1	2	5	0.6%
Estelí	San Juan de Limay	1,076	1	3	1	4	9	0.8%
Granada	Diriomo	85	0	1	0	0	2	2.3%
Granada	Granada	4,205	4	17	7	253	281	6.7%
Granada	Nandaime	1,431	1	2	1	1	6	0.4%
Jinotega	El Cuá	294,814	2,694	7,026	6,584	25,471	41,774	14.2%
Jinotega	Jinotega	9,559	32	78	85	271	467	4.9%
Jinotega	San Rafael del Norte	340	1	3	1	8	13	3.9%
Jinotega	San Sebastián de Yalí	2,414	1	7	15	44	67	2.8%
Jinotega	Santa María de Pantasma	1,998	12	48	16	78	154	7.7%
Jinotega	Wiwilí	88,950	2,218	4,743	3,800	7,556	18,317	20.6%

Primary forest loss by year at the subnational level (administrative level 2)

Sub-national admin area 1	Primary forest extent (2000) ha	Primary forest loss (2001-05) ha	Primary forest loss (2006-10) ha	Primary forest loss (2011-15) ha	Primary forest loss (2016-20) ha	Primary forest loss (2001-20) ha	Primary forest loss (2001-20) %
Atlántico Norte	988,216	14,859	70,078	43,783	127,830	256,550	26.0%
Lago Nicaragua	2,128	6	22	5	56	89	4.2%
León	6,333	57	74	81	40	251	4.0%
Madriz	1,043	1	1	1	17	20	1.9%
Managua	103	0	1	3	2	7	6.7%
Matagalpa	26,782	107	326	191	708	1,332	5.0%
Nueva Segovia	4,939	23	71	86	57	236	4.8%
Río San Juan	211,385	718	1,860	1,088	95,020	98,686	46.7%
Rivas	5,047	22	43	15	52	132	2.6%
Atlántico Sur	327,615	4,002	14,615	15,486	57,964	92,067	28.1%
Boaco	24	0	1	0	2	3	12.4%
Chinandega	38,870	610	514	394	1,086	2,603	6.7%
Estelí	3,925	3	11	4	27	45	1.2%
Granada	5,721	6	21	8	254	289	5.0%
Jinotega	398,075	4,958	11,905	10,501	33,428	60,792	15.3%

Primary forest loss by year at the subnational area (administrative level 2)

Sub-national admin area 1	Admin area 2	Primary forest extent (2001) ha	Primary forest loss (2001-05) ha	Primary forest loss (2006-10) ha	Primary forest loss (2011-15) ha	Primary forest loss (2016-20) ha	Primary forest loss (2001-20) ha	Primary forest loss (2001-20) %
Atlántico Norte	Bonanza	129,569	2,937	13,967	6,646	17,027	40,577	31.3%
Atlántico Norte	Prinzapolka	118,542	341	1,327	2,747	23,456	27,871	23.5%
Atlántico Norte	Puerto Cabezas	55,353	920	3,022	1,196	8,085	13,224	23.9%
Atlántico Norte	Rosita	210,124	4,472	32,710	20,495	49,211	106,889	50.9%
Atlántico Norte	Siuna	109,350	5,039	12,491	5,452	12,071	35,053	32.1%
Atlántico Norte	Waslala	9,308	185	511	205	520	1,420	15.3%
Atlántico Norte	Waspán	355,971	965	6,050	7,041	17,459	31,516	8.9%
Lago Nicaragua	Lago de Nicaragua	2,128	6	22	5	56	89	4.2%
León	Telica	217	7	2	1	5	15	6.8%
León	El Jicaral	857	37	40	45	5	127	14.8%
León	La Paz Centro	871	5	24	9	18	55	6.3%
León	Larreynaga-Malpaisillo	80	2	2	0	0	4	5.4%
León	León	3,858	5	7	23	11	46	1.2%
León	Nagarote	450	0	0	4	0	4	0.9%
Madriz	Las Sabanas	539	0	1	0	4	5	0.9%
Madriz	San Lucas	0	0	0	0	0	0	0.0%
Madriz	Telpaneca	503	0	1	1	13	15	3.0%
Managua	San Francisco Libre	103	0	1	3	2	7	6.7%
Matagalpa	Ciudad Darío	119	0	0	0	0	1	0.4%
Matagalpa	San Ramón	4,848	19	100	83	219	421	8.7%
Matagalpa	Sébaco	52	0	0	0	0	0	0.1%
Matagalpa	Terrabona	59	0	0	0	1	1	2.2%
Matagalpa	Tuma-La Dalia	1,145	2	25	6	13	46	4.0%
Matagalpa	Esquipulas	717	1	12	2	15	30	4.1%
Matagalpa	Matagalpa	4,716	7	22	29	73	130	2.8%
Matagalpa	Matiguás	4,405	6	23	6	43	78	1.8%
Matagalpa	Muy Muy	627	5	5	4	27	40	6.4%
Matagalpa	Rancho Grande	7,482	46	123	56	301	526	7.0%
Matagalpa	Río Blanco	2,272	21	17	4	17	58	2.5%
Matagalpa	San Dionisio	341	0	0	1	0	1	0.3%
Nueva Segovia	San Fernando	351	5	15	7	4	31	8.9%
Nueva Segovia	Ciudad Sandino	25	0	0	0	0	0	0.6%
Nueva Segovia	Dipilto	440	1	1	3	14	19	4.2%
Nueva Segovia	Jalapa	3,088	16	50	71	36	173	5.6%
Nueva Segovia	Mozonte	1,035	1	5	4	3	13	1.2%
Río San Juan	San Carlos	71,759	672	1,768	917	20,131	23,488	32.7%
Río San Juan	San Juan del Norte	139,626	46	92	171	74,889	75,198	53.9%
Rivas	Altagracia	4,054	15	34	10	24	83	2.0%
Rivas	Moyogalpa	67	0	0	0	0	1	0.8%
Rivas	Tola	925	6	8	5	29	48	5.2%
Atlántico Sur	Bluefields	131,104	572	2,455	1,474	31,326	35,827	27.3%
Atlántico Sur	Bocana de Paiwas	120	1	5	4	36	46	38.3%
Atlántico Sur	El Rama	1	0	0	0	0	0	46.2%
Atlántico Sur	Kukra Hill	892	1	9	9	43	62	6.9%
Atlántico Sur	La Cruz de Río Grande	39,401	1,407	4,077	3,415	5,932	14,831	37.6%
Atlántico Sur	Laguna de Perlas	155,886	2,000	8,032	10,575	20,589	41,196	26.4%
Atlántico Sur	Nueva Guinea	211	21	37	9	38	104	49.4%
Boaco	Camoapa	24	0	1	0	2	3	12.4%
Chinandega	Chichigalpa	899	2	1	3	8	15	1.6%
Chinandega	Somotillo	4,841	5	23	36	49	113	2.3%
Chinandega	Villanueva	1,334	178	80	43	127	427	32.0%
Chinandega	Chinandega	9,342	226	141	107	257	730	7.8%
Chinandega	Corinto	2,707	0	0	0	8	8	0.3%
Chinandega	El Realejo	1,933	1	6	5	25	37	1.9%
Chinandega	El Viejo	15,737	197	253	196	605	1,251	8.0%
Chinandega	Posoltega	193	0	5	0	0	5	2.8%
Chinandega	Puerto Morazán	1,884	1	5	4	7	16	0.8%
Estelí	Condega	1,347	1	4	2	18	24	1.8%
Estelí	Estelí	693	1	2	2	3	8	1.1%
Estelí	Pueblo Nuevo	809	0	2	1	2	5	0.6%
Estelí	San Juan de Limay	1,076	1	3	1	4	9	0.8%
Granada	Diriomo	85	0	1	0	0	2	2.3%
Granada	Granada	4,205	4	17	7	253	281	6.7%
Granada	Nandaime	1,431	1	2	1	1	6	0.4%
Jinotega	El Cuá	294,814	2,694	7,026	6,584	25,471	41,774	14.2%
Jinotega	Jinotega	9,559	32	78	85	271	467	4.9%
Jinotega	San Rafael del Norte	340	1	3	1	8	13	3.9%
Jinotega	San Sebastián de Yalí	2,414	1	7	15	44	67	2.8%
Jinotega	Santa María de Pantasma	1,998	12	48	16	78	154	7.7%
Jinotega	Wiwilí	88,950	2,218	4,743	3,800	7,556	18,317	20.6%

2019 forest data for Nicaragua | Archived forest data for Nicaragua | Forest data for Nicaragua

Data Source: Tree cover loss: Hansen/UMD/Google/USGS/NASA via Global Forest Watch. Administrative boundaries: Global Administrative Areas database (GADM), version 3.6.

Citation: Mongabay. "Deforestation statistics for [selected country name]". Accessed on [date] from worldrainforests.com.

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