Change in rate of forest loss: short-term versus longer-term

Deforestation data can be highly contentious due to variances in how forest cover is measured, how deforestation is defined, and whether or not forest regrowth and plantations are incorporated. Here are two estimates on forest loss from different sources.

Gross forest loss

This table below show gross forest loss from a data set developed by researchers led by the University of Maryland's Matthew Hansen. Gross forest loss includes all sources of forest loss from clearing of natural forest to cyclical harvesting of plantations. For that reason, "forest loss" may not accurately reflect deforestation in countries with high plantation cover. For example, roughly 25 percent of Vietnam's tree cover is plantations, meaning that harvesting of industrial timber plantations shows up as "forest loss".

Country	30% forest cover	Percent forest cover	5-year Forest loss (2010-2014)	Loss as % of 2009 cover	10-year Forest loss 2005-2014	Loss as % of 2004 cover	5-yr vs 10-yr change	Loss 2001-2014
Micronesia	6,177	69.50%	77	1.20%	77	1.20%	100.00%	77
Comoros	134,789	81.90%	3,224	2.40%	3,549	2.60%	81.70%	3,694
Seychelles	6,204	36.10%	4	0.10%	4	0.10%	78.90%	5
Sierra Leone	5,617,477	78.00%	342,650	6.30%	451,398	8.10%	51.80%	498,424
Guinea	8,159,128	33.50%	300,760	3.80%	409,334	5.10%	47.00%	483,224
Equatorial Guinea	2,659,056	99.10%	41,782	1.60%	58,333	2.20%	43.30%	67,303
Barbados	5,237	12.10%	159	3.10%	232	4.50%	37.60%	267
Cambodia	8,810,800	49.60%	939,467	11.50%	1,366,817	15.90%	37.50%	1,586,252
Suriname	13,949,663	96.60%	55,102	0.40%	80,517	0.60%	36.90%	97,893
Republic of Congo	26,386,120	77.90%	218,672	0.80%	325,864	1.20%	34.20%	409,526
Cameroon	31,467,692	68.00%	362,383	1.20%	540,699	1.70%	34.00%	657,057
Montserrat	4,589	45.90%	119	2.60%	178	3.90%	33.80%	197
Bhutan	2,580,571	64.60%	7,694	0.30%	11,558	0.40%	33.10%	13,643
Cape Verde	7,353	1.90%	40	0.60%	60	0.80%	33.00%	100
Liberia	9,384,704	98.20%	394,334	4.30%	597,469	6.40%	32.00%	711,477
Guinea-Bissau	1,068,754	32.30%	43,696	4.20%	66,890	6.30%	30.70%	79,883
Nigeria	10,030,686	11.10%	218,467	2.20%	335,252	3.40%	30.30%	439,032
Belize	1,748,544	80.90%	78,549	4.70%	121,666	7.10%	29.10%	154,508
Rwanda	496,553	20.80%	9,253	1.90%	14,728	3.00%	25.70%	19,357
Madagascar	17,140,688	29.10%	1,015,825	6.30%	1,629,106	9.70%	24.70%	1,971,473
Zambia	24,088,374	32.70%	542,444	2.30%	878,272	3.70%	23.50%	1,025,306
Mauritius	71,277	38.40%	1,414	2.00%	2,293	3.30%	23.30%	3,052
Democratic Republic of the Congo	199,224,295	87.10%	3,891,740	2.00%	6,332,619	3.20%	22.90%	7,977,010
Cote d'Ivoire	14,872,644	46.60%	758,238	5.40%	1,248,634	8.60%	21.50%	1,650,236
Vietnam	16,577,661	51.30%	782,924	4.90%	1,290,484	7.90%	21.30%	1,504,547
Laos	19,118,743	83.90%	842,110	4.60%	1,392,112	7.40%	21.00%	1,635,813
Haiti	857,989	31.90%	15,100	1.80%	25,029	2.90%	20.70%	33,070
Gabon	24,698,659	94.40%	132,491	0.50%	221,631	0.90%	19.60%	277,413
Vanuatu	1,182,551	98.00%	2,804	0.20%	4,689	0.40%	19.60%	5,830
Myanmar	42,859,260	64.60%	1,038,385	2.50%	1,739,782	4.10%	19.40%	2,030,101
Angola	55,315,474	44.40%	868,241	1.60%	1,453,854	2.60%	19.40%	1,740,011
Ghana	6,955,609	29.90%	267,108	4.00%	451,865	6.70%	18.20%	616,484
Senegal	39,937	0.20%	1,041	2.70%	1,773	4.50%	17.50%	2,176
Malawi	1,521,895	16.20%	50,833	3.50%	87,090	5.80%	16.70%	106,593
Uganda	7,768,510	37.80%	214,897	2.80%	369,383	4.80%	16.40%	439,968
Peru	78,069,516	60.90%	935,981	1.20%	1,608,222	2.10%	16.40%	1,949,886
Guyana	18,995,491	91.00%	46,775	0.20%	81,518	0.40%	14.80%	107,866
Solomon Islands	2,736,458	98.00%	42,202	1.60%	73,666	2.70%	14.60%	85,617
French Guiana	8,162,647	98.90%	22,231	0.30%	39,020	0.50%	13.90%	51,244
Paraguay	24,296,591	61.30%	2,033,927	9.30%	3,600,576	15.40%	13.00%	4,460,595
Tanzania	26,423,103	29.80%	774,301	3.00%	1,380,699	5.30%	12.20%	1,699,305
Ethiopia	12,040,792	10.70%	136,378	1.10%	243,248	2.00%	12.10%	295,611
Papua New Guinea	42,940,888	93.40%	335,408	0.80%	600,298	1.40%	11.70%	781,082
Sri Lanka	3,940,058	60.50%	53,819	1.40%	96,948	2.50%	11.00%	112,884
Philippines	18,600,335	63.60%	336,666	1.90%	609,967	3.30%	10.40%	761,175
Guadeloupe	94,729	58.00%	848	0.90%	1,544	1.60%	9.80%	2,184
Central African Republic	47,070,870	76.00%	248,224	0.50%	452,879	1.00%	9.60%	546,921
Bangladesh	1,959,601	15.10%	29,529	1.50%	54,026	2.80%	9.30%	69,122
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	29,146	75.20%	145	0.50%	267	0.90%	8.60%	313
Bolivia	64,520,862	60.00%	1,455,835	2.30%	2,707,971	4.20%	7.50%	3,394,108
India	38,813,953	12.40%	428,047	1.10%	796,813	2.10%	7.40%	1,034,010
Grenada	28,572	80.90%	346	1.30%	651	2.30%	6.30%	1,452
Malaysia	29,415,650	89.90%	2,347,553	9.00%	4,452,517	15.80%	5.40%	5,632,714
Dominica	70,922	94.60%	315	0.40%	601	0.80%	5.00%	742
Burundi	538,389	21.60%	6,700	1.30%	12,774	2.40%	4.90%	17,120
Nicaragua	7,776,950	65.60%	394,623	5.40%	754,061	9.90%	4.70%	920,393
Brunei	527,813	92.20%	8,045	1.60%	15,370	2.90%	4.70%	19,700
Thailand	19,962,443	39.40%	530,997	2.80%	1,020,567	5.20%	4.10%	1,267,835
Cayman Islands	13,448	51.50%	115	0.90%	222	1.70%	3.30%	302
Indonesia	160,978,096	85.80%	7,718,113	5.10%	15,069,653	9.60%	2.40%	18,507,771
New Caledonia	1,440,566	77.00%	6,211	0.40%	12,290	0.90%	1.10%	16,009
Fiji	1,582,747	86.80%	9,959	0.60%	19,825	1.30%	0.50%	25,279
Honduras	7,740,007	69.40%	219,202	3.00%	438,530	5.80%	0.00%	572,519
Sao Tome and Principe	14,207	88.50%	0	0.00%	0	0.00%	0	77
Chad	409,437	0.30%	8,739	2.20%	17,606	4.30%	-0.70%	21,048
Trinidad and Tobago	391,869	76.40%	6,603	1.70%	13,343	3.40%	-1.00%	17,359
Saint Lucia	50,733	84.00%	306	0.60%	617	1.20%	-1.00%	719
British Virgin Islands	7,453	48.70%	23	0.30%	48	0.60%	-2.90%	60
Curacao	5,262	12.30%	17	0.30%	36	0.70%	-3.60%	39
Mozambique	28,907,587	37.30%	810,692	2.90%	1,694,033	5.90%	-4.30%	2,048,679
Maldives	5,801	26.50%	23	0.40%	49	0.80%	-4.50%	63
Ecuador	19,064,820	75.00%	225,181	1.20%	472,068	2.50%	-4.60%	598,816
Brazil	519,191,664	61.90%	11,738,637	2.40%	24,986,028	4.90%	-6.00%	38,336,733
Martinique	74,640	67.50%	824	1.10%	1,753	2.40%	-6.00%	2,450
Kenya	3,317,383	5.80%	84,049	2.70%	180,456	5.60%	-6.80%	250,306
Colombia	81,779,083	72.60%	918,379	1.10%	2,035,000	2.50%	-9.70%	2,822,694
Mexico	53,182,952	27.40%	878,017	1.70%	1,948,125	3.70%	-9.90%	2,587,661
Palau	41,163	90.20%	206	0.50%	470	1.10%	-12.20%	645
Zimbabwe	1,414,160	3.70%	47,297	3.60%	108,066	7.80%	-12.50%	140,022
Venezuela	56,531,450	62.80%	426,454	0.80%	984,240	1.80%	-13.30%	1,376,709
Dominican Republic	2,576,585	53.90%	67,830	2.80%	157,971	6.30%	-14.10%	209,756
Cuba	4,013,557	36.80%	45,355	1.20%	111,712	2.80%	-18.80%	174,221
Puerto Rico	523,665	58.80%	3,886	0.80%	9,622	1.90%	-19.20%	14,561
Nepal	5,160,834	35.00%	12,087	0.20%	30,081	0.60%	-19.60%	38,505
Guatemala	7,693,753	71.30%	288,106	4.10%	732,171	9.90%	-21.30%	995,707
Singapore	18,768	29.40%	276	1.50%	701	3.80%	-21.40%	922
Jamaica	768,471	70.10%	11,002	1.50%	28,232	3.70%	-22.10%	36,057
East Timor	726,032	48.70%	5,877	0.80%	15,140	2.10%	-22.40%	20,174
Togo	558,992	9.80%	8,462	1.60%	22,143	4.00%	-23.60%	31,755
Costa Rica	3,912,907	76.80%	50,818	1.30%	133,228	3.40%	-23.70%	180,006
El Salvador	988,934	48.90%	12,523	1.30%	33,600	3.50%	-25.50%	58,305
US Virgin Islands	19,009	54.40%	146	0.80%	391	2.10%	-25.50%	608
Bahamas	303,566	25.80%	3,455	1.20%	9,299	3.10%	-25.70%	11,296
Panama	5,699,919	76.80%	80,150	1.50%	224,358	4.00%	-28.60%	289,942
Benin	168,505	1.50%	6,537	4.60%	19,993	12.70%	-34.60%	31,382
Saint Kitts and Nevis	13,256	50.70%	50	0.40%	159	1.20%	-36.40%	281
Antigua and Barbuda	19,328	46.10%	122	0.60%	388	2.00%	-37.30%	473
Turks and Caicos Islands	10,845	12.40%	94	0.90%	361	3.30%	-47.90%	395
Gambia	4,592	0.40%	120	2.90%	500	11.20%	-51.90%	622
Anguilla	2,121	27.10%	5	0.20%	31	1.50%	-67.40%	45

U.N. forest loss

The table below contains data from the U.N. FAO 2015 Forest Resources Assessment. Unlike the table above, units are 1,000 hectares.

	Forest/land area	Forest area					Change 2010-2015		Change 2005-2015		-	-
UN Forest Cover	2015	1990	2000	2005	2010	2015	Loss/Gain	Loss/Gain	Loss/Gain	Loss/Gain	5-yr vs 10-yr change	Change 1990-2015
Country	%	(1000 ha)	(1000 ha)	(1000 ha)	(1000 ha)	(1000 ha)	(1000 ha)	% of 2010 cover	(1000 ha)	% of 2005 cover	%	(1000 ha)
Brazil	59	546705	521274	506734	498458	493538	-4920	-1.0%	-13196	-2.6%	-25%	-53167
Democratic Republic of the Congo	67.3	160363	157249	155692	154135	152578	-1557	-1.0%	-3114	-2.0%	0%	-7785
Indonesia	53	118545	99409	97857	94432	91010	-3422	-3.6%	-6847	-7.0%	0%	-27535
Peru	57.8	77921	76147	75528	74811	73973	-838	-1.1%	-1555	-2.1%	8%	-3948
Mexico	34	69760	67856	67083	66498	66040	-458	-0.7%	-1043	-1.6%	-12%	-3720
Colombia	52.7	64417	61798	60201	58635	58502	-133	-0.2%	-1699	-2.8%	-84%	-5915
India	23.8	63939	65390	67709	69790	70682	892	1.3%	2973	4.4%	-40%	6743
Bolivia	50.6	62795	60091	58734	56209	54764	-1445	-2.6%	-3970	-6.8%	-27%	-8031
Angola	46.4	60976	59728	59104	58480	57856	-624	-1.1%	-1248	-2.1%	0%	-3120
Tanzania	52	55920	51920	49920	47920	46060	-1860	-3.9%	-3860	-7.7%	-4%	-9860
Zambia	65.4	52800	51134	50301	49468	48635	-833	-1.7%	-1666	-3.3%	0%	-4165
Venezuela	52.9	52026	49151	47713	47505	46683	-822	-1.7%	-1030	-2.2%	60%	-5343
Mozambique	48.2	43378	41188	40079	38972	37940	-1032	-2.6%	-2139	-5.3%	-4%	-5438
Myanmar	44.2	39218	34868	33321	31773	29041	-2732	-8.6%	-4280	-12.8%	28%	-10177
Papua New Guinea	72.5	33627	33600	33586	33573	33559	-14	0.0%	-27	-0.1%	4%	-68
Sudan	10.3	23570	21826	20954	20082	19210	-872	-4.3%	-1744	-8.3%	0%	-4360
Congo	65.4	22726	22556	22471	22411	22334	-77	-0.3%	-137	-0.6%	12%	-392
Central African Republic	35.6	22560	22404	22326	22248	22170	-78	-0.4%	-156	-0.7%	0%	-390
Malaysia	67.6	22376	21591	20890	22124	22195	71	0.3%	1305	6.2%	-89%	-181
Zimbabwe	36.4	22164	18894	17259	15624	14062	-1562	-10.0%	-3197	-18.5%	-2%	-8102
Gabon	89.3	22000	22000	22000	22000	23000	1000	4.5%	1000	4.5%	100%	1000
Paraguay	38.6	21157	19368	18475	16950	15323	-1627	-9.6%	-3152	-17.1%	3%	-5834
Laos	81.3	17645	16526	16870	17816	18761	945	5.3%	1891	11.2%	0%	1116
Nigeria	7.7	17234	13137	11089	9041	6993	-2048	-22.7%	-4096	-36.9%	0%	-10241
Guyana	84	16660	16622	16602	16576	16526	-50	-0.3%	-76	-0.5%	32%	-134
Suriname	95.4	15430	15391	15371	15351	15332	-19	-0.1%	-39	-0.3%	-3%	-98
Ethiopia	11.4	15114	13705	13000	12296	12499	203	1.7%	-501	-3.9%	-181%	-2615
Ecuador	50.5	14631	13729	13335	12942	12548	-394	-3.0%	-787	-5.9%	0%	-2083
Thailand	32.1	14005	17011	16100	16249	16399	150	0.9%	299	1.9%	0%	2394
Madagascar	21.4	13692	13023	12838	12553	12473	-80	-0.6%	-365	-2.8%	-56%	-1219
Cambodia	53.6	12944	11546	10731	10094	9457	-637	-6.3%	-1274	-11.9%	0%	-3487
Côte d’Ivoire	32.7	10222	10328	10405	10403	10401	-2	0.0%	-4	0.0%	0%	179
Viet Nam	47.6	9363	11727	13077	14128	14773	645	4.6%	1696	13.0%	-24%	5410
Senegal	43	9348	8898	8673	8473	8273	-200	-2.4%	-400	-4.6%	0%	-1075
Ghana	41	8627	8909	9053	9195	9337	142	1.5%	284	3.1%	0%	710
Somalia	10.1	8282	7515	7131	6747	6363	-384	-5.7%	-768	-10.8%	0%	-1919
French Guiana	98.6	8218	8182	8168	8138	8130	-8	-0.1%	-38	-0.5%	-58%	-88
Honduras	41	8136	6392	5792	5192	4592	-600	-11.6%	-1200	-20.7%	0%	-3544
Guinea	25.9	7264	6904	6724	6544	6364	-180	-2.8%	-360	-5.4%	0%	-900
Burkina Faso	19.6	6847	6248	5949	5649	5350	-299	-5.3%	-599	-10.1%	0%	-1497
Mali	3.9	6690	5900	5505	5110	4715	-395	-7.7%	-790	-14.4%	0%	-1975
Philippines	27	6555	7027	7074	6840	8040	1200	17.5%	966	13.7%	148%	1485
Benin	39	5761	5061	4811	4561	4311	-250	-5.5%	-500	-10.4%	0%	-1450
Panama	62.1	5040	4867	4782	4699	4617	-82	-1.7%	-165	-3.5%	-1%	-423
Liberia	43.4	4929	4629	4479	4329	4179	-150	-3.5%	-300	-6.7%	0%	-750
Nepal	25.4	4817	3900	3636	3636	3636	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	-	-1181
Uganda	10.4	4751	3869	3429	2753	2077	-676	-24.6%	-1352	-39.4%	0%	-2674
Guatemala	33	4748	4208	3938	3722	3540	-182	-4.9%	-398	-10.1%	-9%	-1208
Kenya	7.8	4724	3557	4047	4230	4413	183	4.3%	366	9.0%	0%	-311
Nicaragua	25.9	4514	3814	3464	3114	3114	0	0.0%	-350	-10.1%	-100%	-1400
Malawi	33.4	3896	3567	3402	3237	3147	-90	-2.8%	-255	-7.5%	-29%	-749
Sierra Leone	42.5	3118	2922	2824	2726	3044	318	11.7%	220	7.8%	189%	-74
Costa Rica	54	2564	2376	2491	2605	2756	151	5.8%	265	10.6%	14%	192
Bhutan	72.3	2507	2606	2656	2705	2755	50	1.8%	99	3.7%	1%	248
Solomon Islands	78.1	2324	2268	2241	2213	2185	-28	-1.3%	-56	-2.5%	0%	-139
Sri Lanka	33	2284	2192	2118	2103	2070	-33	-1.6%	-48	-2.3%	38%	-214
Guinea-Bissau	70.1	2216	2120	2072	2022	1972	-50	-2.5%	-100	-4.8%	0%	-244
Cuba	30.1	2058	2435	2697	2932	3200	268	9.1%	503	18.7%	7%	1142
Niger	0.9	1945	1328	1266	1204	1142	-62	-5.1%	-124	-9.8%	0%	-803
Equatorial Guinea	55.9	1860	1743	1685	1626	1568	-58	-3.6%	-117	-6.9%	-1%	-292
Belize	59.9	1616	1459	1417	1391	1366	-25	-1.8%	-51	-3.6%	-2%	-250
Bangladesh	11	1494	1468	1455	1442	1429	-13	-0.9%	-26	-1.8%	0%	-65
Dominican Republic	41	1105	1486	1652	1817	1983	166	9.1%	331	20.0%	0%	878
Timor-Leste	46.1	966	854	798	742	686	-56	-7.5%	-112	-14.0%	0%	-280
Fiji	55.7	953	980	997	993	1017	24	2.4%	20	2.0%	140%	64
New Caledonia	45.9	839	839	839	839	839	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	-	0
Togo	3.5	685	486	386	287	188	-99	-34.5%	-198	-51.3%	0%	-497
Bahamas	51.4	515	515	515	515	515	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	-	0
Gambia	48.8	442	461	471	480	488	8	1.7%	17	3.6%	-6%	46
Mauritania	0.2	415	317	267	242	225	-17	-7.0%	-42	-15.7%	-19%	-190
Brunei Darussalam	72.1	413	397	389	380	380	0	0.0%	-9	-2.3%	-100%	-33
El Salvador	12.8	377	332	309	287	265	-22	-7.7%	-44	-14.2%	0%	-112
Jamaica	31	345	341	339	337	335	-2	-0.6%	-4	-1.2%	0%	-10
Rwanda	19.5	318	344	385	446	480	34	7.6%	95	24.7%	-28%	162
Burundi	10.7	289	198	181	253	276	23	9.1%	95	52.5%	-52%	-13
Puerto Rico	57.9	287	450	463	479	496	17	3.5%	33	7.1%	3%	209
Trinidad and Tobago	45.7	241	234	230	226	234	8	3.5%	4	1.7%	300%	-7
Samoa	60.4	130	171	171	171	171	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	-	41
Haiti	3.5	116	109	105	101	97	-4	-4.0%	-8	-7.6%	0%	-19
Réunion	35.2	87	87	85	88	88	0	0.0%	3	3.5%	-100%	1
Guadeloupe	42.5	73	73	73	72	71	-1	-1.4%	-2	-2.7%	0%	-2
Sao Tome and Principe	55.8	56	56	56	54	54	0	0.0%	-2	-3.6%	-100%	-2
French Polynesia	42.3	55	105	130	155	155	0	0.0%	25	19.2%	-100%	100
Dominica	57.8	50	47	46	45	43	-2	-4.4%	-3	-6.5%	33%	-7
Martinique	45.8	49	49	49	49	49	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	-	0
Comoros	19.9	49	45	42	39	37	-2	-5.1%	-5	-11.9%	-20%	-12
Seychelles	88.4	41	41	41	41	41	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	-	0
Saint Lucia	33.3	22	21	21	21	20	-1	-4.8%	-1	-4.8%	100%	-2
Singapore	23.4	16	16	16	16	16	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	-	0
Cook Islands	64	14	15	15	15	15	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	-	1