Tree cover loss in United States

United States: Tree cover loss was 1.59 million hectares in 2024. ▼ Falling

Latest (2024)
1.59 million hectares
Change on year
up 15.4%
World rank
5th
of 197 countries
All-time high
2.74 million hectares
in 2004
All-time low
1.38 million hectares
in 2023
Years of data
24
2001–2024

Tree cover loss in United States, 2001–2024

01.0M2.0M3.0M2001201220242001: 1.9M hectares2002: 2.0M hectares2003: 1.6M hectares2004: 2.7M hectares2005: 2.7M hectares2006: 2.6M hectares2007: 2.4M hectares2008: 2.2M hectares2009: 1.6M hectares2010: 2.2M hectares2011: 1.7M hectares2012: 2.0M hectares2013: 1.7M hectares2014: 1.7M hectares2015: 2.3M hectares2016: 2.3M hectares2017: 2.3M hectares2018: 2.1M hectares2019: 2.1M hectares2020: 2.0M hectares2021: 2.0M hectares2022: 2.2M hectares2023: 1.4M hectares2024: 1.6M hectares

Source: Global Forest Watch (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in hectares.

Analysis

United States recorded 1.59 million hectares for tree cover loss in 2024.

That represents a change of up 15.4% on the previous year and down 7.7% over ten years.

Over the whole period, tree cover loss in United States peaked at 2.74 million hectares in 2004 and was at its lowest, 1.38 million hectares, in 2023.

That places United States 5th out of 197 countries with data for 2024, putting it in the top 10%.

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

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
2000s 2.21 million hectares 1.60 million hectares 2.74 million hectares 9
2010s 2.03 million hectares 1.66 million hectares 2.31 million hectares 10
2020s 1.84 million hectares 1.38 million hectares 2.20 million hectares 5

Countries ranked near United States

  1. 2 Canada 5.16 million hectares compare
  2. 3 Brazil 4.39 million hectares compare
  3. 4 Bolivia 1.81 million hectares compare
  4. 6 Democratic Republic of Congo 1.38 million hectares compare
  5. 7 Indonesia 1.12 million hectares compare
  6. 8 China 673,569 hectares compare

See the full ranking of 197 places →

More reference data data for United States

All data for United States →

Frequently asked questions

What is tree cover loss in United States?
Tree cover loss in United States was 1.59 million hectares in 2024, according to Global Forest Watch (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data.
What is the highest tree cover loss recorded in United States?
The highest recorded value was 2.74 million hectares in 2004.
What is the lowest tree cover loss recorded in United States?
The lowest recorded value was 1.38 million hectares in 2023.
How does United States rank for tree cover loss?
United States ranks 5th out of 197 countries with data for 2024.
Is tree cover loss rising or falling in United States?
Over the last ten years it is down 7.7%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
Where does this United States data come from?
The figures come from Global Forest Watch (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Tree cover loss. 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).

About this data

Indicator
Tree cover loss
Unit
hectares
Source
Global Forest Watch (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
197 places, 4,728 data points, 2001–2024
Last refreshed

Tree cover loss driven by all causes.