Total | Amphibians | Birds | Fish | Mammals | Reptiles | Vascular Plants
Total number of plant species, by country
Note, there are two datasets presented in this table. The "updated" column reflects data collected between 2017-2021 from several academic sources. For some countries, the estimates are significantly lower than the World Conservation Monitoring Centre's 2004 aggregation (WCMC), which in some cases included multiple synonyms for a given species. The updated column should be considered more accurate, but the WCMC is also included..
The data agree that Brazil has the most plant species of any country, but after that, the rankings differ. But even with that caveat, the lists of the top 5 countries in terms of plant biodiversity share four names: Brazil, China, Colombia, and Mexico. Of the top 10 for the number of plant species, the lists share 7 countries.
| Rank | Country / region | Plant species count (WCMC 2004) | Plant species count (Updated) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brazil | 56,215 | 34,387 |
| 2 | China | 32,200 | 31,362 |
| 3 | Colombia | 51,220 | 24,025 |
| 4 | Mexico | 26,071 | 23,385 |
| 5 | South Africa | 23,420 | 21,250 |
| 6 | Peru | 17,144 | 19,812 |
| 7 | Australia | 15,638 | 19,324 |
| 8 | Indonesia | 29,375 | 19,232 |
| 9 | Ecuador | 19,362 | 18,466 |
| 10 | Myanmar | 7,000 | 16,000 |
| 11 | United States (USA) | 19,473 | 15,500 |
| 12 | Venezuela | 21,073 | 15,381 |
| 13 | India | 18,664 | 15,000 |
| 14 | Bolivia | 17,367 | 14,729 |
| 15 | Malaysia | 15,500 | 14,060 |
| 16 | Russia | 11,400 | 12,500 |
| 17 | Madagascar | 9,505 | 11,832 |
| 18 | Costa Rica | 12,119 | 11,000 |
| 19 | Papua New Guinea | 11,544 | 10,973 |
| 20 | Panama | 9,915 | 10,462 |
| 21 | Argentina | 9,372 | 10,221 |
| 22 | Philippines | 8,931 | 10,107 |
| 23 | Tanzania | 10,008 | 10,100 |
| 24 | Turkey | 8,650 | 10,001 |
| 25 | Congo (DRC) | 11,007 | 8,860 |
| 26 | Guatemala | 8,681 | 8,763 |
| 27 | Vietnam | 10,500 | 8,500 |
| 28 | Iran | 8,000 | 7,500 |
| 29 | Honduras | 5,680 | 7,188 |
| 30 | Guyana | 6,409 | 7,112 |
| 31 | Cameroon | 8,260 | 6,883 |
| 32 | Kenya | 6,506 | 6,765 |
| 33 | Ethiopia | 6,603 | 6,700 |
| 34 | Thailand | 11,625 | 6,600 |
| 35 | Cuba | 6,522 | 6,522 |
| 36 | Nepal | 6,973 | 6,200 |
| 37 | Laos | 8,286 | 6,000 |
| 38 | Brunei | 6,000 | 6,000 |
| 39 | Kazakhstan | 6,000 | 6,000 |
| 40 | Cambodia | 5,000 | 6,000 |
| 41 | Pakistan | 4,950 | 6,000 |
| 42 | Spain | 5,050 | 5,800 |
| 43 | Nicaragua | 7,590 | 5,796 |
| 44 | El Salvador | 2,911 | 5,772 |
| 45 | Dominican Republic | 5,657 | 5,657 |
| 46 | Japan | 5,565 | 5,600 |
| 47 | Bhutan | 5,468 | 5,600 |
| 48 | Italy | 5,599 | 5,590 |
| 49 | Greece | 4,992 | 5,500 |
| 50 | French Guiana | 5,625 | 5,406 |
| 51 | Paraguay | 7,851 | 5,296 |
| 52 | Haiti | 5,242 | 5,242 |
| 53 | Gabon | 6,651 | 5,236 |
| 54 | Chile | 5,284 | 5,155 |
| 55 | Ukraine | 5,100 | 5,100 |
| 56 | Bangladesh | 5,000 | 5,000 |
| 57 | Suriname | 5,018 | 4,984 |
| 58 | Uganda | 6,500 | 4,932 |
| 59 | France | 4,630 | 4,700 |
| 60 | Tajikistan | 5,000 | 4,513 |
| 61 | Azerbaijan | 4,300 | 4,500 |
| 62 | Uzbekistan | 4,800 | 4,344 |
| 63 | Croatia | 4,288 | 4,288 |
| 64 | Belize | 2,894 | 4,192 |
| 65 | Georgia | 4,350 | 4,100 |
| 66 | Mozambique | 5,692 | 4,095 |
| 67 | Serbia | 4,082 | 4,082 |
| 68 | Canada | 3,270 | 3,893 |
| 69 | Kyrgyzstan | 4,500 | 3,800 |
| 70 | Cote d'lvoire (Ivory Coast) | 3,660 | 3,689 |
| 71 | Nigeria | 4,715 | 3,378 |
| 72 | Malawi | 3,765 | 3,340 |
| 73 | Sri Lanka | 3,314 | 3,314 |
| 74 | Zambia | 4,747 | 3,309 |
| 75 | Jamaica | 3,308 | 3,308 |
| 76 | Solomon Islands | 3,172 | 3,172 |
| 77 | Sudan | 3,137 | 3,137 |
| 78 | Morocco | 3,675 | 3,100 |
| 79 | Togo | 3,085 | 3,085 |
| 80 | Equatorial Guinea | 3,250 | 3,049 |
| 81 | Ghana | 3,725 | 2,971 |
| 82 | Zimbabwe | 4,440 | 2,807 |
| 83 | Portugal | 5,050 | 2,800 |
| 84 | Central African Republic | 3,602 | 2,560 |
| 85 | Guinea | 3,000 | 2,533 |
| 86 | Benin | 2,500 | 2,460 |
| 87 | Congo | 6,000 | 2,403 |
| 88 | Liberia | 2,200 | 2,403 |
| 89 | New Zealand | 2,382 | 2,400 |
| 90 | Singapore | 2,282 | 2,282 |
| 91 | Trinidad and Tobago | 2,259 | 2,274 |
| 92 | Angola | 5,185 | 2,262 |
| 93 | Rwanda | 2,288 | 1,883 |
| 94 | Sierra Leone | 2,090 | 1,883 |
| 95 | Senegal | 2,086 | 1,342 |
| 96 | Somalia | 3,028 | 1,267 |
| 97 | Gambia | 974 | 974 |
| 98 | Mali | 1,741 | 903 |
| 99 | Seychelles | 850 | 850 |
| 100 | Guinea-Bissau | 1,000 | 841 |
| Palau | 500 | 500 | |
| Afghanistan | 5,000 | - | |
| Iraq | 4,500 | - | |
| Namibia | 4,481 | - | |
| Taiwan | 4,442 | - | |
| Chad | 4,318 | - | |
| South Sudan | 4,000 | - | |
| Bulgaria | 3,750 | - | |
| North Macedonia | 3,674 | - | |
| New Caledonia | 3,645 | - | |
| South Korea | 3,632 | - | |
| Slovakia | 3,619 | - | |
| Armenia | 3,600 | - | |
| Romania | 3,515 | - | |
| Eswatini (Swaziland) | 3,500 | - | |
| Bosnia and Herzegovina | 3,500 | - | |
| United Kingdom | 3,445 | - | |
| Hong Kong | 3,300 | - | |
| Algeria | 3,139 | - | |
| Syria | 3,100 | - | |
| Puerto Rico | 2,912 | - | |
| Uruguay | 2,911 | - | |
| Slovenia | 2,900 | - | |
| Yemen | 2,900 | - | |
| Turkmenistan | 2,900 | - | |
| North Korea | 2,898 | - | |
| Mongolia | 2,850 | - | |
| Norway | 2,800 | - | |
| Burundi | 2,788 | - | |
| Germany | 2,660 | - | |
| Jordan | 2,622 | - | |
| Lebanon | 2,600 | - | |
| Fiji | 2,600 | - | |
| Switzerland | 2,590 | - | |
| Austria | 2,580 | - | |
| Montenegro | 2,550 | - | |
| Albania | 2,450 | - | |
| Israel | 2,380 | - | |
| Poland | 2,300 | - | |
| Saudi Arabia | 2,285 | - | |
| Hungary | 2,250 | - | |
| Egypt | 2,250 | - | |
| Czech Republic | 2,100 | - | |
| Tunisia | 2,100 | - | |
| Lesotho | 2,096 | - | |
| Libya | 2,088 | - | |
| Sweden | 2,000 | - | |
| Cyprus | 1,750 | - | |
| Guadeloupe | 1,709 | - | |
| Belarus | 1,650 | - | |
| Latvia | 1,648 | - | |
| Eritrea | 1,619 | - | |
| Denmark | 1,583 | - | |
| Netherlands | 1,581 | - | |
| Estonia | 1,538 | - | |
| Liechtenstein | 1,531 | - | |
| Bermuda | 1,500 | - | |
| Lithuania | 1,498 | - | |
| Niger | 1,400 | - | |
| Bahamas | 1,350 | - | |
| Belgium | 1,340 | - | |
| Luxembourg | 1,300 | - | |
| Finland | 1,300 | - | |
| Micronesia | 1,239 | - | |
| Dominica | 1,228 | - | |
| Malta | 1,200 | - | |
| Comoros | 1,200 | - | |
| Oman | 1,100 | - | |
| Mauritania | 1,100 | - | |
| East Timor (Timor-Leste) | 983 | - | |
| Botswana | 920 | - | |
| Ireland | 900 | - | |
| Cape Verde | 891 | - | |
| French Polynesia | 881 | - | |
| Burkina Faso | 879 | - | |
| Vanuatu | 870 | - | |
| Reunion | 850 | - | |
| Djibouti | 820 | - | |
| São Tomé and Príncipe | 806 | - | |
| Virgin Islands, U.S. | 748 | - | |
| Barbados | 700 | - | |
| Mauritius | 691 | - | |
| Cayman Islands | 650 | - | |
| Guam | 600 | - | |
| United Arab Emirates | 598 | - | |
| Maldives | 583 | - | |
| Greenland | 575 | - | |
| Samoa | 541 | - | |
| Iceland | 438 | - | |
| Tonga | 419 | - | |
| Kuwait | 402 | - | |
| Bahrain | 357 | - | |
| Qatar | 355 | - |
Source: Plant data is from the World Conservation Monitoring Centre of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP-WCMC), 2004. Species Data. Fish: Fishbase; Birds: Birdlife International; Amphibians: AmphibiaWeb; Mammals: IUCN; Reptiles: the Reptile Database.
Species counts: Total | Amphibians | Birds | Mammals | Reptiles | Vascular Plants
IUCN Red List (partial list of rainforest countries): Australia, Belize, Bhutan, Bolivia, Brazil, Côte D’ivoire, Cambodia, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Colombia, Congo Brazzaville, Congo Kinshasa, Costa Rica, Ecuador, French Guiana, Gabon, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Laos, Liberia, Madagascar, Malaysia, Mexico, Myanmar (Burma), Nepal, Nicaragua, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Philippines, Solomon Islands, Sri Lanka, Suriname, Tanzania, Thailand, Uganda, Venezuela, and Vietnam.