Insider Monkey
30 Most Forested Countries in the World Ranked by Percentage of Forest Cover
Ramish Cheema
9 min read

In this piece, we will take a look at the 30 most forested countries in the world ranked by percentage of forest cover. For more countries, head on over to 5 Most Forested Countries in the World Ranked by Percentage of Forest Cover.

Human beings have been using tools for centuries now. The ability to shape the environment and use appendages to manipulate resources for industrial and personal use has been the primary determinant of moving civilization forward. The first proper modern day civilization, the Roman Empire, rose to prosperity because of its ability to build complex water transportation systems and war machines that enabled the Romans to live together in large groups and project military power.

However, at the same time, progress has a cost. And the highest cost that has been borne as a result is by the environment. Modern era air and land transportation combined with the emissions from power generation have increased the greenhouse gases in the air, and this is compounded by the fact that human beings have also been merciless towards forests - the lungs of the planet. On this front, data from the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) shows that between 1990 and 2000, the global forest area dropped by 7.8 million hectares annually. However, on a positive note, the rate of this drop has slowed down, with 4.7 million hectares of forest area being reduced annually between 2010 and 2020. Cumulatively speaking, a painful 420 million hectares of forests have been lost since 1990. Forests in Africa have suffered the most, losing 3.9 million hectares annually between 2010 and 2020, followed by South America with 2.6 million hectares of annual losses.

So, forests are reducing but what is humanity doing about it? Well, there's a massive market dedicated to planting forests, and it's worth billions of dollars. In fact, according to research from The Business Research Company, the global  forestry and logging industry was worth a whopping $981 billion in 2022 and is slated to grow to $1 trillion by the end of 2023 to mark a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 10.3%. From 2023 until 2027, the industry is expected to maintain this growth rate through a 10.2% CAGR to be worth $1.6 trillion by the end of the forecast period. This industry covers both firms that plant forests for artificial use as well as those that transport the cut trees and other products.

Not only is the forestry and logging market quite valuable, but it also has several offshoots. For instance, one area where technology is helping the forestry market is the forestry software segment. This industry enables forestry firms to schedule their operations and identify new business opportunities. According to research from Data Bridge Market, this sector was worth $1.25 billion in 2021 and will grow at a CAGR of 22.4% to sit at $6.3 billion by 2029 end.

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