Share of land defined as natural habitat in Democratic Republic of Congo

Democratic Republic of Congo: Share of land defined as natural habitat was 88.57 in 2010. ▼ Falling

Latest (2010)
88.57
World rank
17th
of 168 countries
All-time high
95.4
in 1780
All-time low
88.57
in 2010
Years of data
24
1780–2010

Share of land defined as natural habitat in Democratic Republic of Congo, 1780–2010

0204060801001780189520101780: 95.41790: 95.31800: 95.11810: 951820: 94.81830: 94.61840: 94.41850: 94.21860: 941870: 93.71880: 93.51890: 93.21900: 92.91910: 92.61920: 92.21930: 921940: 91.61950: 91.21960: 891970: 891980: 88.91990: 88.82000: 89.12010: 88.6

Source: Taylor and Rising, and United Nations (2021) – processed by Our World in Data.

Analysis

The most recent figure for share of land defined as natural habitat in Democratic Republic of Congo is 88.57, measured in 2010. That is the lowest value across all 24 years on record.

That represents a change of down 0.6% over ten years.

Over the whole period, share of land defined as natural habitat in Democratic Republic of Congo peaked at 95.4 in 1780 and was at its lowest, 88.57, in 2010.

Democratic Republic of Congo ranks 17th of 168 countries on this measure, in the top 10%.

The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 24 years of available data.

Share of land defined as natural habitat in Democratic Republic of Congo, year by year

Annual values for Share of land defined as natural habitat in Democratic Republic of Congo, 1780 to 2010.
Year Value Change
1780 95.4
1790 95.26 -0.1%
1800 95.11 -0.2%
1810 94.95 -0.2%
1820 94.78 -0.2%
1830 94.6 -0.2%
1840 94.4 -0.2%
1850 94.19 -0.2%
1860 93.97 -0.2%
1870 93.73 -0.3%
1880 93.46 -0.3%
1890 93.18 -0.3%
1900 92.88 -0.3%
1910 92.55 -0.4%
1920 92.23 -0.3%
1930 92.03 -0.2%
1940 91.62 -0.4%
1950 91.2 -0.5%
1960 89.04 -2.4%
1970 89.05 +0.0%
1980 88.9 -0.2%
1990 88.83 -0.1%
2000 89.11 +0.3%
2010 88.57 -0.6%

Democratic Republic of Congo compared with similar countries

  • Democratic Republic of Congo's 88.57 is above the median for low income countries, which is 35.78, 2.5× the median. (25 countries reporting)
  • Democratic Republic of Congo's 88.57 is above the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 52.29, 1.7× the median. (44 countries reporting)

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1780s 95.4 95.4 95.4 1
1790s 95.26 95.26 95.26 1
1800s 95.11 95.11 95.11 1
1810s 94.95 94.95 94.95 1
1820s 94.78 94.78 94.78 1
1830s 94.6 94.6 94.6 1
1840s 94.4 94.4 94.4 1
1850s 94.19 94.19 94.19 1
1860s 93.97 93.97 93.97 1
1870s 93.73 93.73 93.73 1
1880s 93.46 93.46 93.46 1
1890s 93.18 93.18 93.18 1
1900s 92.88 92.88 92.88 1
1910s 92.55 92.55 92.55 1
1920s 92.23 92.23 92.23 1
1930s 92.03 92.03 92.03 1
1940s 91.62 91.62 91.62 1
1950s 91.2 91.2 91.2 1
1960s 89.04 89.04 89.04 1
1970s 89.05 89.05 89.05 1
1980s 88.9 88.9 88.9 1
1990s 88.83 88.83 88.83 1
2000s 89.11 89.11 89.11 1
2010s 88.57 88.57 88.57 1

Countries ranked near Democratic Republic of Congo

  1. 14 Equatorial Guinea 92.69 compare
  2. 15 Guyana 92.37 compare
  3. 16 Central African Republic 91.78 compare
  4. 18 Slovenia 85.35 compare
  5. 19 Gabon 84.47 compare
  6. 20 Japan 83.73 compare

See the full ranking of 168 places →

More reference data data for Democratic Republic of Congo

All data for Democratic Republic of Congo →

Frequently asked questions

What is share of land defined as natural habitat in Democratic Republic of Congo?
Share of land defined as natural habitat in Democratic Republic of Congo was 88.57 in 2010, according to Taylor and Rising, and United Nations (2021) – processed by Our World in Data.
What is the highest share of land defined as natural habitat recorded in Democratic Republic of Congo?
The highest recorded value was 95.4 in 1780.
What is the lowest share of land defined as natural habitat recorded in Democratic Republic of Congo?
The lowest recorded value was 88.57 in 2010.
How does Democratic Republic of Congo rank for share of land defined as natural habitat?
Democratic Republic of Congo ranks 17th out of 168 countries with data for 2010.
Is share of land defined as natural habitat rising or falling in Democratic Republic of Congo?
Over the last ten years it is down 0.6%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
Where does this Democratic Republic of Congo data come from?
The figures come from Taylor and Rising, and United Nations (2021) – processed by Our World in Data, published as part of Share of land defined as natural habitat. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

Download this data

CSV · JSON — 24 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).

Share, cite or embed this page

Cite this page

Share of land defined as natural habitat in Democratic Republic of Congo. Statizoid, drawing on Taylor and Rising, and United Nations (2021) – processed by Our World in Data. Retrieved 24 September 2026, from https://reference.statizoid.com/stat/land-natural-share/congo-dem-rep/

Embed or link this data

Paste this into a page to link back to these figures. The data itself is free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data); please keep the attribution.

<a href="https://reference.statizoid.com/stat/land-natural-share/congo-dem-rep/">Share of land defined as natural habitat in Democratic Republic of Congo</a> — Statizoid

About this data

Indicator
Share of land defined as natural habitat
Source
Taylor and Rising, and United Nations (2021) – processed by Our World in Data
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
168 places, 4,032 data points, 1780–2010
Last refreshed

Natural ecosystems include forest, grassland, savanna, and shrublands, and other classes such as peatlands and marshes. It is total land minus land that is used by humans for agriculture – either croplands or pasture – or for infrastructure and urban environments.