Three major data releases in 2026 tell the same story: deforestation slowed in 2025, but fire is erasing the gains. Here's what the numbers show and why they matter.
Key points
- Tropical primary forest loss fell 36% in 2025 compared to 2024, the sharpest annual decline on record
- Amazon deforestation dropped to its lowest level since 1988 at 3,335 square kilometres
- Fire accounted for 42% of global tree cover loss in 2025, up from previous years
- Global net forest loss continues at 4.1 million hectares per year, equal to losing a football pitch every 3 seconds
The good news: tropical deforestation is falling
Global Forest Watch released data in April 2026 showing that tropical primary rainforest loss fell by 36% in 2025 compared to 2024.1 That brought the total to 4.3 million hectares, down from a record 6.7 million hectares the year before.
Primary forests are old-growth rainforests that have never been logged. They hold more carbon and biodiversity than any other forest type, so when they're cleared, the damage is permanent. The 36% drop is the largest year-over-year decline since Global Forest Watch began tracking this data.
Amazon deforestation hits a record low
Brazil's National Institute for Space Research (INPE) reported on October 16, 2026, that Amazon deforestation fell to 3,335 square kilometres in the year ending July 2026.3 That's the lowest figure since the PRODES monitoring system began in 1988, and a 42% drop from the previous year.4
To put that in context: annual losses peaked at nearly 30,000 square kilometres in the mid-1990s. The previous record low was 4,571 square kilometres in 2011-12. What changed? A combination of stronger enforcement, satellite monitoring and political will to stop illegal clearing.
But the decline was uneven. Pará state recorded the most clearing at 1,130 square kilometres, followed by Mato Grosso at 849 and Amazonas at 525. Roraima was the only state where clearing did not fall.3
Read more about Amazon deforestation and its drivers.
What FAO's global assessment tells us
The Food and Agriculture Organization released its Global Forest Resources Assessment 2025 (FRA 2025) with data through 2025. The headline: gross deforestation worldwide was 10.9 million hectares per year between 2015 and 2025, down from 13.6 million hectares per year in 2000–2015.5
Net forest loss — which accounts for both clearing and regrowth — fell to 4.12 million hectares per year in 2015–2025, less than half the 10.7 million hectares lost annually in the 1990s.5
The difference between gross and net is important. When a forest is cleared but a plantation is planted elsewhere, that shows up as net zero. But ecologically, those are not the same. An old-growth rainforest holds far more biodiversity and carbon than a eucalyptus plantation. That's why FAO tracks both.
Deforestation vs. tree cover loss: FAO measures permanent forest conversion (deforestation). Global Forest Watch measures all tree cover loss, including fire, plantation harvesting and natural disturbance. The numbers look different because they measure different things. Neither is wrong; they answer different questions.
Fire is now the biggest threat
Here's the warning buried in the data: fire accounted for 42% of global tree cover loss in 2025, the highest share on record.1 Much of the 2024 spike was driven by extreme fires, and 2025 continued the trend.
Fire is different from clearing for agriculture. When a forest burns, it might regrow. But repeated fires degrade the ecosystem, kill carbon-storing trees and release massive amounts of CO₂. And as the climate warms, fire seasons are getting longer and more intense.
The World Resources Institute called fire "a growing threat to forests worldwide" in its 2026 analysis.2 That threat compounds every other driver of deforestation.
How much forest is left?
The world still has 4.14 billion hectares of forest, covering 32% of total land area.5 But 489 million hectares have been lost to deforestation since 1990 — an area larger than India.5
Primary forests, the most valuable type, were lost at 1.61 million hectares per year between 2015 and 2025. That's less than half the rate of 2000–2015, when 3.92 million hectares were cleared annually.5
More than 460 million hectares of forest worldwide are now degraded, meaning they've lost ecological function even if the trees are still standing.6 Governments in 91 countries have pledged to restore more than 190 million hectares, but most of that work hasn't started.
Learn more about what can be done to stop deforestation.
What the 2026 data means for climate
Deforestation is a double blow to the climate. First, cleared forests release their stored carbon — between 2.8 and 3.8 billion tonnes of CO₂ per year from 2015 to 2025, according to FAO.7 Second, those forests can no longer absorb carbon from the atmosphere.
The good news is that forests globally still act as net carbon sinks, removing more CO₂ than they emit. But that balance is fragile. If fire keeps accelerating and deforestation resumes, forests could flip from sink to source.
The effects of deforestation on climate are well documented: less rain, more drought, higher temperatures and disrupted weather patterns. Every hectare that burns or gets cleared makes the problem worse.
The trend is not the trajectory
One year of progress doesn't guarantee the next. Deforestation has fallen before — in the early 2010s, for example — only to spike again when enforcement weakened or commodity prices rose.
The 2026 data shows what's possible when governments enforce the law, when satellite monitoring works and when there's political will to act. The question is whether that will lasts.
Mongabay noted in October 2026 that the near-term outlook for the Amazon is challenged by a super El Niño brewing in the Pacific, which could bring severe drought and fire risk.3 The Cerrado, Brazil's savanna biome, also saw clearing fall 24% to a record low of 5,517 square kilometres — but that's still 5,517 square kilometres lost.4
See the full picture in our deforestation statistics overview.
Questions people ask
What is the current rate of deforestation worldwide?
Global gross deforestation was 10.9 million hectares per year between 2015 and 2025, according to FAO's latest assessment. Net forest loss — accounting for regrowth — was 4.12 million hectares per year.5 That's equivalent to losing a football pitch of forest every 3 seconds.
Did deforestation increase or decrease in 2025?
How much Amazon rainforest was lost in 2026?
Brazil's INPE reported 3,335 square kilometres of Amazon deforestation in the 12 months ending July 2026, the lowest figure since monitoring began in 1988.3 This represents a 42% decline from the previous year and is far below the peak of nearly 30,000 square kilometres in the mid-1990s.
What is causing most deforestation in 2026?
Agriculture remains the primary driver, particularly cattle ranching in the Amazon and palm oil plantations in Southeast Asia. However, fire has become the dominant factor in tree cover loss, accounting for 42% of global losses in 2025.1 Learn more about the causes of deforestation.
How do scientists track deforestation?
Satellite monitoring systems like Global Forest Watch (which uses data from the University of Maryland) and Brazil's PRODES analyze satellite imagery to detect forest clearing. These systems can track changes down to individual hectares and provide near-real-time alerts. Ground surveys and national forest inventories, like FAO's assessment, provide complementary data every few years.
Why this data matters
Numbers alone don't stop chainsaws. But they tell us whether policies are working, where to focus enforcement and what's at stake if we lose.
The 2026 data proves that deforestation can be reversed when governments choose to act. Brazil cut Amazon clearing by 42% in a single year. Tropical forest loss fell by more than a third globally. Those are not accidents. They're the result of satellite monitoring, enforcement and political choices.
But fire is the variable no one fully controls. As long as the climate keeps warming, fire seasons will keep getting worse. That makes protecting what's left even more urgent.
Watch the film to see what's at stake. Then choose how the story ends.
Sources
- World Resources Institute (2026). Tropical Rainforest Loss Slowed in 2025, but Fire is a Growing Threat to Forests Worldwide. Forest Pulse, Global Forest Watch. Accessed 21 October 2026.
- World Resources Institute (2026). RELEASE: Tropical Rainforest Loss Drops 36% in 2025, but Fires Threaten Global Progress. Press release, 29 April 2026. Accessed 21 October 2026.
- Mongabay (2026). Amazon deforestation falls 42% to a record low. 16 October 2026. Accessed 21 October 2026.
- ESG News (2026). Inpe Records 42% Drop in Brazil's Amazon Deforestation, to 3,335 sq km. 17 October 2026. Accessed 21 October 2026.
- Food and Agriculture Organization (2025). Global Forest Resources Assessment 2025: Key findings. FAO, Rome. Accessed 21 October 2026.
- Food and Agriculture Organization (2026). FAO report: Restoring forests and landscapes is critical to meeting global food security and development goals. The State of the World's Forests 2026. Accessed 21 October 2026.
- Tubiello, F.N., Conchedda, G., Wanner, N., et al. (2026). FAO estimates of net forest emissions and removals, 1990–2025. Earth System Science Data, 18, 6799–6833. Accessed 21 October 2026.