The table illustrates the forest area in six regions across the world—Africa, Asia, Europe, North America, Oceania, and South America—measured in millions of hectares, with data from 1990 to 2005.
Overall, it is clear that Europe and Asia saw an increase in forested areas over the period, while the other continents experienced a decline. Europe had the largest forest area, while Oceania had the smallest by the end of the given period.
A closer look at the data reveals that Asia’s forest area grew substantially, from 576 million hectares in 1990 to 584 million hectares in 2005. Likewise, Europe’s forest area increased by nearly 20 million hectares, reaching a total of 1,024 million hectares by 2005.
In contrast, the remaining continents saw a decline in forest area. Africa and South America experienced significant reductions, with Africa’s forest area falling to 691 million hectares and South America’s to 882 million hectares by 2005. Oceania’s forest area declined slightly, dropping by just 1 million hectares annually, resulting in a total decrease of 15 million hectares by 2005. Notably, North America’s forest area also decreased, but the drop was minimal—just 3 million hectares over the entire period—after which it remained stable for the last five years.