Visualizing Tropical Forest Loss in 2023
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Tropical forests are between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn. These vast green areas are crucial for the planet as they host diverse ecosystems, containing nearly two-thirds of global biodiversity.
In addition, they absorb large amounts of carbon dioxide and produce oxygen.
This graphic visualizes the top 10 countries by tropical forest loss in 2023, measured in hectares. This data was sourced from the World Resources Institute (WRI).
Glasgow Declaration on Forests and Land Use
In 2021, leaders of 145 countries pledged to halt and reverse forest loss by 2030. With only six years remaining until that deadline, it’s uncertain whether the world will meet this goal.
However, some progress is being made, especially in Brazil. The 1.14 million hectares it lost in 2023 is significantly lower (-36%) than the 1.77 million hectares it lost in 2022.
The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Bolivia, Indonesia, and Peru were the four other countries rounding out the top five, with about 1.5 million hectares of tropical forest loss between them.
Country Primary Forest Loss (Hectares)
Brazil1.14M
Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC)530K
Bolivia490K
Indonesia290K
Peru150K
Laos140K
Cameroon100K
Madagascar80K
Malaysia80K
Colombia70K
Rest of World680K
Still, the world lost a total area of 3.75 million hectares last year, equivalent to losing almost 10 football (soccer) fields of forest per minute.
According to the World Resources Institute, while this represents a 9% decrease from 2022, the rate in 2023 was nearly identical to that of 2019 and 2021.
All this forest loss produced 2.4 gigatonnes (Gt) of carbon dioxide emissions in 2023, equivalent to almost half of the United States’ annual fossil fuel emissions.
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