Forest cover in India – important statistics

More than 1/5th of the landmass of India is covered in forests. As per the latest state of forest report, the total forest cover in India is 7,13,789 square kilometers, which is 21.71% of the total geographical area of the country. India added 1,540 sq km of forest cover from 2019 to 2021. The forest cover is divided into 3 parts.

  • Very dense forest: All land with tree canopy density of 70% and above.
  • Moderately dense forest: All land with tree canopy density of 40% – 70%.
  • Open forest: All land with tree canopy density of 10% – 40%.
Very dense forest99,779 sq km3.04% of India’s area
Moderately dense forest3,06,890 sq km9.33% of India’s area
Open forest3,07,120 sq km9.34% of India’s area
Total forest cover7,13,789 sq km21.71% of India’s area
Forest cover in India
Forest cover in India

State-wise forest cover in India

State/UTForest cover (sq km)Geographical area (sq km)forest cover percentage (of geographical area)
Andhra Pradesh29,7841,62,96818.28%
Arunachal Pradesh66,43183.74379.33%
Assam28,31278,43836.09%
Bihar7,38194,1637.84%
Chhattisgarh55,7171,35,19241.21%
Goa2,2443,70260.62%
Gujarat14,9261,96,2447.61%
Haryana1,60344,2123.63%
Himachal Pradesh15,44355,67327.73%
Jharkhand23,72179,71629.76%
Karnataka38,7301,91,79120.19%
Kerala21,25338,85254.70%
Madhya Pradesh77,4933,08,25225.14%
Maharashtra50,7983,07,71316.51%
Manipur16,59822,32774.34%
Meghalaya 17,04622,42976.00%
Mizoram17,82021,08184.53%
Nagaland12,25116,57973.90%
Odisha52,1561,55,70733.50%
Punjab1,84750,3623.67%
Rajasthan16,6553,42,2394.87%
Sikkim 3,3417,09647.08%
Tamil Nadu26,4191,30,06020.31%
Telangana21,2141,12,07718.93%
Tripura7,72210,48673.64%
Uttar Pradesh14,8182,40,9286.15%
Uttarakhand24,30553,48345.44%
West Bengal16,83288,75218.96%
Andaman and Nicobar Islands6,7448,24981.75%
Chandigarh22.8811420.07%
Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu227.7560237.83%
Delhi1951,48313.15%
Jammu and Kashmir21,38754,62439.15%
Lakshadweep27.103090.33%
Ladakh2,2721,68,0551.35%
Puducherry53.3049010.88%

(Note: The total forest and tree cover in India is 8,09,537 square kilometers i.e. 24.62 % of the total geographical area.)

(Also read: 10 major mountain ranges in India | subranges | destinations)

A River through forest in India
Image by Bishnu Sarangi from Pixabay

Top 5 states/UTs with largest forest cover area

  • Madhya Pradesh: 77,493 sq km
  • Arunachal Pradesh: 66,431 sq km
  • Chhattisgarh: 55,717 sq km
  • Odisha: 52,156 sq km
  • Maharashtra: 50,798 sq km

Top 5 states/UTs with the highest forest cover percentage (of their geographical area)

  • Lakshadweep: 90.33 %
  • Mizoram: 84.53 %
  • Andaman and Nicobar Islands: 81.75 %
  • Arunachal Pradesh: 79.33 %
  • Meghalaya: 76.00 %

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States/UTs with forest cover less than 10% of their geographical area

  • Ladakh: 1.35 %
  • Haryana: 3.63 %
  • Punjab: 3.67 %
  • Rajasthan: 4.87 %
  • Uttar Pradesh: 6.15 %
  • Gujarat: 7.61 %
  • Bihar: 7.84 %

States/UTs with considerable forest cover increase from 2019 to 2021

  • Andhra Pradesh: 647 sq km increase
  • Telangana: 632 sq km increase
  • Odisha: 537 sq km increase

Mangrove cover (included in total forest cover)

Mangroves are salt-tolerant plants that grow in coastal brackish waters and are mainly found between 24° N and 38° S latitudes. Mangroves form an important ecosystem hosting various species of flora and fauna. The total mangrove cover in India is 4,992 sq km.

Top 5 states with the largest mangrove forest cover area in India

  • West Bengal: 2,114 sq km
  • Gujarat: 1,175 sq km
  • Andaman and Nicobar Islands: 616 sq km
  • Andhra Pradesh: 405 sq km
  • Maharashtra: 324 sq km
  • Odisha: 259 sq km

North-east forest cover

The total forest cover in northeastern states is 1,69,521 sq km which is 64.66% of the total geographical area of the northeast. The Northeast lost 1,020 sq km of forest cover from 2019 to 2021.


Some important points

  • The tropical wet evergreen and semi-evergreen forests of Western Ghats (Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and Karnataka) have the maximum tree and shrub biodiversity followed by the forests of North-east India.
  • Karnataka has the highest tree species richness followed by Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh.
  • The forest cover assessment is done with the help of the LISS III sensor of ISRO’s Resourcesat-2 satellite.
  • Since the assessment is done with the help of satellites, many factors affect the accuracy of the gathered data.

The stats provided in this article are as per the latest India state of forest report.

The article was last updated on 17 September 2024.


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18 thoughts on “Forest cover in India – important statistics”

  1. The whole article is very exhaustive because it is actually showing figures for diff States ,under different categories. My only concern is the authenticity and genuine ness of the Figures. I hope all the figures are, by & large, correct.

    A job very well done.

      1. The data in this post is based on State of forest Report 2021. I keep updating the data after every new report.

  2. Hello! I came across this article while researching for green cover statistics as apl part of my grade 10 project. I have managed to get temp and rainfall data from imd website, but am unable to get green cover data for Pune district. We wish to study the correlation.
    Could you guide as to where can I find the green cover data for Pune district.
    Regards.

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