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Forest cover trajectories across the Horn of Africa, 1990 to 2025
Environment & Climate Line Horn of Africa Download

Forest cover trajectories across the Horn of Africa, 1990 to 2025

Published by Xogsawir, a Jaantus project. 29 October 2025.

Somalia lost nearly half of its forest area between 1990 and 2025, falling from 8.3 to 4.8 million hectares, the steepest decline in the region. Sudan lost 22 percent and 6.1 million hectares in absolute terms. Ethiopia and Eritrea registered smaller losses of six and thirteen percent. Kenya and Djibouti made small gains. Globally, the pace of forest loss has slowed since 2010, but Somalia's trajectory still tracks the slowest progress in the region, driven by drought, charcoal extraction, and deforestation.

Sources

  1. UN FAO Global Forest Resources Assessment Forest area estimates, 1990 to 2025. Accessed 24 October 2025.

Notes

Forest area is reported in millions of hectares (Mha). Country panels share a common time axis from 1990 to 2025. Djibouti's positive change equals roughly 300 hectares in absolute terms and does not indicate large-scale reforestation.

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