Global deforestation fell 15% in 2025 to just over 7 million hectares (about 17.3 million acres), the largest annual decline since the 2018–2020 baseline period, according to the Forest Declaration Assessment 2026.
Even so, the world remains 70% off track to meet the goal, pledged in Glasgow in 2021, of ending deforestation by 2030. Since 2021, losses have outpaced that target by 10.7 million hectares (about 26.4 million acres).
The decline in deforestation was led by tropical Latin America and the Caribbean, where it fell to 33% below the baseline average. Enforcement actions in Brazil’s Amazon more than doubled compared with the previous four-year average. In tropical Africa, deforestation kept rising, reaching 2.4 million hectares (about 5.9 million acres).
After two postponements, the EU Deforestation Regulation will take effect for medium and large operators at the end of this year. Researchers cited in the assessment estimate the latest delay alone could result in an additional 230,000 hectares (568,000 acres) of forest loss.
“This makes last year an exception rather than a new normal,” said Erin Matson, the assessment's principal author and a lead consultant at Climate Focus, which coordinates the report.
