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Global tree cover loss hit 29.6 million hectares in 2024, up 4.7% on 2023
World: tree cover loss · seen · published
Global Forest Watch data (Hansen/UMD), published via Our World in Data, records 29,559,676 hectares of tree cover lost worldwide in 2024, up from 28,231,408 hectares in 2023 — a rise of 4.7%. Across the last ten years of data the series is worsening by 11.9% per decade. A re-read of the same source on 27 September 2026 returned the identical 2024 value, showing the figure has not been revised; that is a stability check by the same provider, not an independent measurement.
What this is not: "tree cover loss" is not the same as deforestation or clearing. It counts canopy disappearing for any reason — fire, storm damage, disease, drought stress, logging rotations and replanting cycles all register. 2024 sits in an El Niño phase (ONI 1.8), which tends to bring hotter, drier conditions and more fire in forested regions, and the period's event log includes multiple wildfires and tropical storms. A global total also hides geography: it can mask sharp losses in one region and regrowth in another.
What would change our mind: a revised back-series or changed upstream method, or regional breakdowns showing the rise is dominated by fire and storm years rather than a sustained trend.
Written by AI, then checked by a separate reviewer before publication. Every claim points at the evidence below.
What we saw
owid-grapher — Tree cover loss: 2024 = 29559676 (2023 = 28231408) ha/yr; 10-year trend 11.9% per decade (worsening). Upstream: Global Forest Watch (Hansen / UMD). (Jan 1, 2024)See the source ↗
owid-grapher — Re-read on 2026-09-27: 2024 value unchanged at 29559676 — the source has not revised it. Same provider (data stability, not an independent measurement). (Jan 1, 2024)See the source ↗
What it might not be
Tree cover loss includes fire, storm and disease damage as well as clearing; it is not a deforestation count.
Annual global indicators can lag reality by 1–5 years.
The confirming read is the same provider, so it only shows the number was not revised.
El Niño (ONI 1.8) and an active fire and storm season can lift loss in a single year.
A global total can hide regional collapse or regional recovery.
Upstream method changes or a revised back-series could shift both the 2024 value and the trend.
Annual global indicators lag reality by 1–5 years: a 'new' value can describe a year long past.
The direction is the 10-year trend, not the single year: one year can move against the trend, and the title then says so.
Global aggregates hide where it happens — a stable global number can mask collapse in one region and recovery in another.
Confirmation only proves the source did not revise the number on a later read — same provider, not an independent measurement.
Some series are single sites (ocean pH is Station ALOHA, Hawaii) or modelled composites (Living Planet Index) with wide uncertainty bands we do not show.
Upstream methods change between releases; a revised back-series can make a year look new or change the trend.
What would change our mind
Newer satellite images that show no change, a correction from the data source, or a reply with evidence from the ground. If that happens, the case is marked “Turned out wrong” — in public — and it stays on this site.
Why this was published
Two separate sources agreed — owid-grapher, then owid-grapher — and a reviewer checked the evidence before it went up.
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Re-read on 2026-09-27: 2024 value unchanged at 29559676 — the source has not revised it. Same provider (data stability, not an independent measurement).