Which country has the largest share of its land covered by forests? Surprisingly, it isn't Brazil, Canada or Russia.
According to the latest available World Bank data, Micronesia leads with 92.07% of its land classified as forest, followed closely by Suriname (91.54%) and Gabon (91.44%).
Palau and the Solomon Islands complete the top five, both with forest coverage close to 90%.
The rankings reveal an interesting pattern: several smaller island nations and tropical countries have a greater proportion of forested land than the world's largest countries.
This analysis examines 193 countries, using World Bank and Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) data from 2023–2024.
Source: World Bank, World Development Indicators; FAO/FAOSTAT. Latest available data, primarily 2024.
Global Forest Coverage Rankings: Which Countries Lead?
Seven countries have more than 85% of their land area covered by forests. They include Pacific island nations, South American countries and forest-rich economies in Central Africa.
The competition at the top is particularly close. Just 0.63 percentage points separate Micronesia from third-ranked Gabon.
Further down, Finland stands out as Europe's highest-ranked country, with forests covering 74.15% of its land. Japan also records substantial forest coverage at 68.34%.
The searchable table below presents the complete ranking of 193 countries, including each country's forest coverage percentage and reporting year.
Note: Rankings measure forest area as a percentage of total land area, not the total size of a country's forests. Nicaragua and Monaco use 2023 data; the remaining countries have 2024 observations.
What Stands Out in the Forest Coverage Data?
1. Tropical Countries and Pacific Islands Dominate the Top
The leading countries are spread across different regions, but many share extensive tropical forest landscapes.
Suriname ranks second globally at 91.54%, with neighbouring Guyana sixth at 87.07%.
In Africa, Gabon ranks third with 91.44%, followed by Equatorial Guinea in seventh place at 86.09%.
The Pacific is equally prominent. Micronesia, Palau and the Solomon Islands all appear among the five most forest-covered countries.
These figures show how forest-dominated landscapes are not limited to large continental nations.
2. Finland Has Europe's Highest Forest Coverage
Northern Europe features prominently in the rankings, even though no European country reaches the global top ten.
Finland leads the region with 74.15% forest coverage, placing it 12th worldwide. Sweden follows at 68.59%, ranking 18th.
Other notable countries include:
- 🇯🇵 Japan: 68.34% (19th)
- 🇧🇷 Brazil: 58.55% (31st)
- 🇷🇺 Russia: 50.79% (50th)
- 🇨🇦 Canada: 41.97% (65th)
Brazil, Russia and Canada contain vast forest resources, yet rank lower when forests are measured as a percentage of their total land area.
This is why forest coverage and total forest area tell two different stories.
3. India Ranks 112th With 24.44% Forest Coverage
India's forest area accounts for 24.44% of its land, placing it 112th among the 193 countries in this dataset.
That puts India slightly above China, which records 24.02% and ranks 113th.
Other South Asian countries show considerable variation. Nepal reports 43.60%, Sri Lanka 34.36%, Bangladesh 14.40% and Pakistan 4.11%.
The differences reflect contrasting landscapes and land-use patterns across the region.
India's figure follows the World Bank/FAO forest definition and should not be confused with national estimates of forest and tree cover, which can use different classifications.
Forest Coverage vs. Total Forest Area: What's the Difference?
Forest coverage measures the percentage of a country's land area classified as forest.
Total forest area, on the other hand, measures the actual extent of forests, usually in hectares or square kilometres.
A small island nation can have more than 90% forest coverage without possessing a particularly large forest area. Meanwhile, a geographically vast country may contain millions of hectares of forest but have a much lower percentage of its land covered by trees.
Under the World Bank's FAO-based definition, forest area includes natural and planted stands of trees that meet specified criteria. Fruit plantations, other agricultural tree systems and urban parks are excluded.
Forest coverage is useful for understanding land use, but it does not reveal whether forests are healthy, protected or losing biodiversity.
Worth noting: A country with 90% forest coverage doesn't necessarily have more forests than a country with 50%. The percentage measures how much of its land is forested, not the total forest area.
Methodology & Data Source
This analysis uses the World Bank's Forest area (% of land area) indicator (AG.LND.FRST.ZS), sourced from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).
- Source: World Bank, World Development Indicators; FAO/FAOSTAT.
- Coverage: 193 countries in the compiled ranking.
- Reporting years: 191 countries use 2024 observations, while Nicaragua and Monaco use 2023 data.
- Ranking method: Countries ordered from highest to lowest by forest area as a percentage of land area, with values displayed to two decimal places.
- Measurement: Natural and planted forest stands meeting the FAO forest definition, expressed as a share of total land area.
The year 2026 refers to the publication edition, not the observation year of the statistics.
These figures measure forest coverage, not annual deforestation, forest condition or biodiversity. Countries and territories outside the compiled dataset are not included in the ranking.
Official Source: World Bank — Forest Area (% of Land Area)
Data License: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 4.0)
Data compiled, analyzed and visualized by The Data Visual.
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