Only 14% of Bangladesh's land is forest — and it is still shrinking

DEEPLAB Research Team

Only 14% of Bangladesh's land is forest — and it is still shrinking

DEEPLAB Research Team • Published October 7, 2026

Only about 14% of Bangladesh is forest

Forest area, % of land area

Source: FAO Global Forest Resources Assessment, via World Bank WDI (AG.LND.FRST.ZS)

Forests cover only 14.4% of Bangladesh’s land, down from 15.3% in 1990, according to the FAO. The loss looks small in percentage terms, but in one of the world’s most densely populated countries every hectare is contested by farms, settlements and industry.

14.4%
Share of Bangladesh’s land covered by forest, 2024.

The most valuable remaining forest is the Sundarbans, the world’s largest mangrove forest, shared with India. It shelters the Bengal tiger and hundreds of other species and acts as a natural barrier against cyclone storm surges — but faces salinity, shipping, industrial pollution and rising seas.

Source: FAO Global Forest Resources Assessment, via World Bank WDI.

Only 14% of Bangladesh's land is forest — and it is still shrinking

Only about 14% of Bangladesh is forest

Our Latest Data Insights

Bangladesh's growth has slowed to 3.5%, its weakest pace in a generation outside the pandemic

Bangladesh still spends about 2% of GDP on education

Remittances are worth 7.4% of Bangladesh's GDP — rising again after a decade-long slide from 10.6%

Extreme poverty in Bangladesh has fallen from half the population to about 6%

Income inequality in Bangladesh rose in the 1990s and has eased only slightly since

Only about four in ten Bangladeshi women are in the labour force