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The FAO Global Forest Resources Assessment (FRA) is a collation of forest data undertaken by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) at the global level every five years.
At around 13% forest cover in 2015, the UK is one of the least densely forested countries in Europe (Table 9.1, Figure 9.1). This compares with 38% for the EU as a whole and 31% worldwide.
| Country | Forest area (million ha) |
Total land area (million ha) |
Forest as % of land area |
|---|---|---|---|
| Europe | |||
| United Kingdom | 3 | 24 | 13 |
| Finland | 22 | 30 | 73 |
| France | 17 | 55 | 31 |
| Germany | 11 | 35 | 33 |
| Italy | 9 | 29 | 32 |
| Spain | 18 | 50 | 37 |
| Sweden | 28 | 41 | 68 |
| Other EU | 52 | 159 | 32 |
| Total EU-281 | 161 | 424 | 38 |
| Russian Federation | 815 | 1 638 | 50 |
| Total Europe | 1 015 | 2 214 | 46 |
| Africa | 624 | 2 987 | 21 |
| Asia | 593 | 3 118 | 19 |
| North & Central America | 751 | 2 134 | 35 |
| Oceania | 174 | 850 | 20 |
| South America | 842 | 1 747 | 48 |
| World | 3 999 | 13 049 | 31 |
Source: FAO Global Forest Resources Assessment 2015.
Notes:
1. Cyprus is included in EU-28 total but is part of FAO’s Asia region.
These figures are outside the scope of National Statistics
Figure 9.1 Forest cover: international comparisons, 2015
Source: FAO.
These figures are outside the scope of National Statistics
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