page_title: Forestry in India
section_title: Distribution of forest by States/Union Territories
hierarchical_section_title: Forestry in India / Distribution of forest by States/Union Territories
caption_attribution_description: English: Indian Forest cover created using Openstreetmap data(map as on February 2015).
context_page_description: Forestry in India is a significant rural industry and a major environmental resource. India is one of the ten most forest-rich countries of the world. Together, India and these other 9 countries account for 67 percent of total forest area of the world. India's forest cover grew at 0.20% annually over 1990–2000, and has grown at the rate of 0.7% per year over 2000–2010, after decades where forest degradation was a matter of serious concern.
  As of 2010, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations estimates India's forest cover to be about 68 million hectares, or 22% of the country's area The 2013 Forest Survey of India states its forest cover increased to 69.8 million hectares by 2012, per satellite measurements; this represents an increase of 5,871 square kilometers of forest cover in 2 years. However, the gains were primarily in northern, central and southern Indian states, while northeastern states witnessed a net loss in forest cover over 2010 to 2012. In 2018, the total forest and tree cover in India increased to 24.39% or 8,02,088 km². It increased further to 24.56 percent or 807,276 square kilometres in 2019.
context_section_description: According to the 2019 Forest Survey, the State of Madhya Pradesh has the largest forest cover in the country. In terms of percentage of forest cover Mizoram (85.41 percent) is the most forest rich state. The States/Union Territories that showed larger increase in forest cover is Karnataka followed by Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, and Jammu & Kashmir while the States/Union Territories that showed loss of forest cover are Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh and Mizoram.
  2015 forest survey data
  The 2015 forest census data thus obtained and published by the Government of India suggests the five states with largest area under forest cover as the following:
  2019 forest survey data
  The 2019 forest census data thus obtained and published by the Government of India suggests the five states with largest area under forest cover as the following:
caption: Indian Forest cover map as of 2015
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