I wrote recently that the UK had the second-lowest forest cover of any country in Europe (see post). More specifically with 12% forest cover the UK has the same forest cover as the Republic of Moldova. Ireland and the Netherlands are equally the least-wooded countries in Europe, each with 11% forest cover. There are four territories with less cover: Isle of Man (6%), Jersey (5%), Guernsey (3%) and Malta (1%). Gibraltar, Holy See, Monaco, San Marino and Svalbard & Jan Mayen Islands all have 0% forest cover.
For updated stats (2015) please click here.
At the other end of the scale, Finland tops the league of forest-clad countries with an amazing 73% forest cover. Sweden, Slovenia, Latvia and Estonia all exceed 50% forest cover. The UK’s other nearest neighbours have close to three times its forest cover: France (29%) and Germany (32%).
These statistics come from the Global Forest Resources Assessment 2010 of the Food & Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). Based of these data I created this bar graph to illustrate the percentage forest cover of all European countries, ranked by cover.
Gabriel Hemery
For updated stats please click here.
