Band 9: The pie chart below shows the main reasons why forests are declining worldwide. The table presents how these causes affected three regions of the world during the 2010s.

The pie chart shows the main reasons for global deforestation, while the table compares how these causes affected three regions in the 2010s.

Overall, logging was the largest contributor to deforestation worldwide, followed by agriculture, whereas other causes accounted for the smallest proportion. Regionally, Europe experienced the highest total forest loss, while North America had the lowest.

In terms of global figures, logging made up 40% of deforestation, making it the leading cause. Agriculture was the second most significant factor at 30%, followed by urban expansion at 20%. The remaining 10% was attributed to other causes.

Looking at the regional data, Europe had the greatest total forest loss at 25.5%, with agriculture being the dominant factor at 15%. In contrast, South America recorded a total loss of 17.5%, mainly due to logging, which accounted for 13%. North America had the lowest overall loss at 9.4%, where logging also contributed the most at 5.3%, followed by smaller impacts from agriculture and urban expansion.