Global deforestation fell 15% in 2025 to 7 million hectares, but the Congo Basin is worsening

Listen to the article4 min, read by a synthetic voice

In brief

A slower year, but no new trend

The Forest Declaration Assessment, published on Wednesday, 14 October 2026, estimates that 7 million hectares of forest were permanently destroyed worldwide in 2025, a fall of 15% on 2024. The consultancy Climate Focus compiled the assessment with data from more than two dozen civil society organisations. Its authors say the improvement is unlikely to last, because the decline partly reflects how severe the previous years had been. Lead author Erin Matson described the result in these terms:

“It is good news that we lost 15 percent less forest in 2025 than in 2024, but that looks good partly only because the previous years were so bad.”

Erin Matson

Still far from the 2030 target

Governments meeting at the 2021 Glasgow climate conference, with more than 100 countries signing up, committed to halting forest destruction by 2030. The report measures progress against the 2018 to 2020 average of 8.3 million hectares a year. On that trajectory, losses would have had to fall by one million hectares every year, allowing no more than 5 million hectares in 2024 and 4.2 million in 2025. Actual losses stayed at 8 million hectares in 2024 and fell to 7 million in 2025. Speaking to the press, Matson summed up the outlook:

“For now, 2025 is an exception, not a new course.”

Erin Matson

Global deforestation, million hectares per yearmillion hectares

Data from the article text

Congo Basin catches up with Latin America

Brazil's measures under President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva are linked to a 33% fall in deforestation, and the report credits a limit on farmland and pasture expansion in the Brazilian Amazon for the regional improvement. The Congo Basin moved the other way, with 2.4 million hectares cleared in 2025 against 2.5 million in tropical Latin America. Researchers say this is the first time the two regions have been at a comparable level since records began. Ane Alencar of the Ipam Amazon research institute argued that cutting deforestation did not require sacrificing farm output or economic growth, and that Brazil's powerful agricultural sector could still reverse the trend toward forest clearing even if Lula loses office. Co-author Ivan Palmegiani said the underlying forces, including distorted economic incentives and weak government action, remain pervasive. Sam Nguiffo, a Cameroonian lawyer and founder of the Centre for Environment and Development, called the situation a disaster and said economic interests still dominate forest management in Central Africa.

Deforestation in 2025, million hectaresmillion hectares

Data from the article text

Funding and the 2026 political calendar

Public support for forest protection has risen from 1.3 billion US dollars in 2018 to 5.27 billion, yet governments invest more than 410 billion dollars a year in projects and companies that continue to drive clearing. The authors decline to forecast, arguing it is not clear that the progress so far will continue, and that forest outcomes hinge on the decisions of a few governments whose policies can change quickly. Brazil holds the runoff of its presidential election on 25 October, and right-wing challenger Flávio Bolsonaro is described as the favourite. The report also warns that the new right-wing heads of state of Colombia and Peru, Abelardo de la Espriella and Keiko Fujimori, could undermine forest protection.