About 4.1 billion hectares of forest worldwide are concentrated in a small number of countries. Russia alone holds one-fifth of that total; five countries account for more than half.
Russia holds 20.1% of global forest area—roughly one-fifth of the world total.
Five countries (Russia, Brazil, Canada, the U.S., China) together account for over 50% of global forests.
# At a glance
# Top-level facts Russia leads the list with 832,629,950 hectares of forest, representing 20.1% of the global total. Brazil is second with 486,086,620 hectares (11.7%), followed by Canada (368,818,850 ha, 8.9%), the United States (308,895,000 ha, 7.5%), and China (227,153,000 ha, 5.5%). Those five countries together hold more than half of the world's forests.
# Regional distribution
# How concentrated are forests by country? The ranking shows steep concentration at the top: Russia alone is nearly twice the size of Brazil's forest area and equals roughly one‑fifth of global forest cover. After the top five, forest area drops progressively across many countries—several dozen nations contain only a fraction of a percent each.
# Notable countries beyond the top five Several countries outside the top five still hold large forest areas, including the Democratic Republic of Congo (139,189,040 ha, 3.4%), Australia (133,561,590 ha, 3.2%), Indonesia (95,969,300 ha, 2.3%), India (72,739,000 ha, 1.8%), and Peru (67,159,760 ha, 1.6%). The top 15 countries together account for most of the world's forests.
# Why these numbers matter Forest area figures are a basic measure that helps compare the scale of forest resources across countries and regions. They are relevant to questions of carbon storage capacity, biodiversity habitat, timber supply, and land‑use planning. The concentration of forest area in a small set of countries also shapes global priorities for conservation, sustainable management, and international cooperation.
# Data source and year
# Quick reference bullets
# Bottom line A small set of countries holds the majority of the planet's forest area. That concentration affects the global balance of ecosystem services, the focus of conservation efforts, and the distribution of natural resources used for timber and other products.
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