12 Deforestation Statistics You Should Know

Human activities have already caused 1°C of global warming since the Industrial Revolution.¹ Producing greenhouse gases increases the planet’s temperature through the greenhouse effect.² Deforestation increases the amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the Earth’s atmosphere and prevents trees from removing and storing it.³ The following deforestation statistics show the importance of immediately reducing the practice.

Deforestation statistics

Deforestation and climate change

1. An area of forest the size of the UK (26 million hectares or 64 million acres) is cut down every year.⁴

The majority of global deforestation occurs in tropical regions.⁵ 3.6 million hectares of primary rainforest were destroyed in 2018.⁶ That is equivalent to the landmass of Belgium.⁷ 

2. A mature tree captures and stores about 22 kilograms of carbon dioxide (CO2) on average per year.⁸

Trees play a vital role in climate change mitigation. They pull the greenhouse gas CO2 from the air.⁹ This prevents it from trapping heat in the Earth’s atmosphere and raising the planet’s temperature.¹⁰ Forests are the best carbon capture and storage technology we have.¹¹

3. Forests and agriculture can get us at least a quarter of the way to meeting the Paris Agreement target of limiting global warming to 1.5°C.¹²

Plants use carbon, sunlight, and water to grow.¹³ In the process, trees store large quantities of carbon in their biomass for centuries.¹⁴ They also sequester significant amounts of carbon in nearby soil.¹⁵ By protecting and enhancing our existing forests, we can prevent the planet’s temperature warming from exceeding 1.5°C.

4. Deforestation statistics show that it causes about 10 percent of worldwide emissions.¹⁶

Cutting trees down and either burning them or leaving them to rot releases the CO2 they have stored.¹⁷ It also prevents trees from absorbing any additional carbon. Deforestation is, therefore, a major cause of CO2 emissions and a key contributor to climate change. 

Tree felling and its effect on biodiversity

5. Half of the planet’s topsoil has been lost in the last 150 years. 26.4 billion tons of soil are lost each year.¹⁸

Healthy soil is vital for life on Earth. It forms a dynamic and complex ecosystem composed of countless minute organisms.¹⁹ Trees hold it in place with their roots and protect it with their foliage.²⁰ They prevent wind and rain from blowing or washing the topsoil away.²¹ Deforestation removes this protection.

We are now losing topsoil ten times faster than it is being replenished.²²

Tree cover loss and its effect on animals

6. Forests are home to 80 percent of all land-based plants and animals.²³

Animals rely on the canopy that the forest trees provide. This is what is called tree cover. It ensures that the warmth of the sun is partly trapped at night so that temperatures remain relatively stable.²⁴

Tropical forests, in particular, are exceptionally biodiverse. They support at least two-thirds of the world’s biodiversity, despite covering less than 10 percent of the land surface.²⁵ To protect these plant and animal species, we must stop deforestation. 

7. 137 species of plants, animals and insects go extinct every day due to deforestation. 50,000 species become extinct each year.²⁶

Since rainforests hold so much biodiversity and the majority of deforestation occurs in the tropics, mass extinctions are inevitable due to tree cover loss, general deforestation and forest degradation. At least one million species are now at risk of dying out.²⁷ This is not a natural occurrence. We are losing species at 1,000 to 10,000 times the normal rate.²⁸

Forest loss and the future of medicine

8. One-quarter of all prescription medications are made with products from living organisms, mainly plants.²⁹ 70 percent of the drugs used today are models of natural products.³⁰

Undiscovered medicines are vanishing because of deforestation. Over 25 per cent of natural medicines were found in tropical rainforests.³¹ As we raze great swathes of forest cover, we are depriving ourselves of potential cures. 

Deforestation and forest degradation in the Amazon rainforest

9. As much as 17 percent of the Amazon rainforest has been cut down.³² 

The world’s largest rainforest lost 11,088 square kilometers (4,281 square miles) from August 2019 to July 2020.³³ This is the highest rate of deforestation since 2008.³⁴ It is causing huge damage to this crucial carbon sink. 

10. Brazil’s deforestation rate has increased by as much as 92 percent since President Bolsonaro’s inauguration in 2019.³⁵

The far-right populist Jair Bolsonaro declares satellite images of rising Amazonian deforestation “lies”.³⁶ His policies open up the rainforest for exploitation and business.³⁷ Since his ascendency, Brazil’s environmental protection agency, IBAMA, has been severely weakened.³⁸ As a result, Amazon deforestation in 2020 reached its highest point for 12 years.³⁹

11. If deforestation reaches 20 to 25 percent of the Amazon, 50 to 70 percent of the rainforest will be transformed into savanna in less than 50 years.⁴⁰

Climate change and deforestation threaten the very existence of the Amazon rainforest. Scientists predict a tipping point after which vast areas in eastern, southern, and central Amazonia will flip to non-forest ecosystems.⁴¹

Droughts due to forest loss in Brazil

Severe droughts have hit the region three times since 2005.⁴² Widespread fires damaged the tropical biome throughout 2019 and 2020.⁴³ These indicate that the forest is already nearing the tipping point.

12. The amount of carbon that the Amazon rainforest absorbs from the atmosphere has fallen by about a third in the past decade.⁴⁴

The rainforest is soaking up about one billion tonnes of carbon dioxide less than it used to.⁴⁵ The decrease is equivalent to over twice the UK’s annual emissions.⁴⁶

Deforestation statistics like this demonstrate the damage deforestation has done to the Amazon. As a result, we will need an even greater and more drastic cut in fossil fuel usage to achieve the Paris Agreement’s goals than has been previously estimated.

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