The Growth of Forest Area in Spain 1991-2025

12 December 2025

Forests are spreading in almost all Western countries, with the fastest growth in places that historically had rather few trees. According to the latest data from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Spain is ranked as the third most forested in the European Union, with 19.13 million hectares. In 1991 28% of Spain was forested and the proportion has grown to 37% by 2025. The growth rate has recently slowed, with forested cover unchanged since 2022. The increase is mainly due to rural depopulation and the natural expansion of mountain vegetation.

The above map shows the percentage forest gain or loss for ​​world countries since 1991. It is based on FAO records in the World Bank open database. The FAO excludes from its definition agricultural production systems (such as a fruit plantations) and trees in urban parks and gardens.

Deforestation remains the prevailing trend. The world's forest area has decreased 3% (approximately 1.3 million km²) in the last 25 years. The net rate of loss of trees has slowed sgnificantly during that period, from 10.7 million hectares in the 1990s to 4.12 million hectares in 2015–2025, according to the FAO.

The purchasing power of nations, according to the data, is closely related to forest conservation. The more developed countries added more than three million new forest area between 2000 and 2010; the less, to the contrary, lost more than two million.

Source: El Pais:¿Qué países han ganado y perdido más árboles desde 1990?