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MALAYSIA VS ASEAN · FORESTS · 2023
How much of Malaysia's land is forest compared with ASEAN neighbours?
World Bank/FAO forest area as a share of land area for all 11 ASEAN members in 2023.
SHOW ME THE DATA2023 · forest area · % of land area
VIEW DATA ASSame source · different visual lens
2023
1Brunei Darussalam72.1forest area · % of land area
2Lao PDR71.5forest area · % of land area
3Timor-Leste61.7forest area · % of land area
4Malaysia57.7forest area · % of land area
5Indonesia47.7forest area · % of land area
6Viet Nam47.4forest area · % of land area
7Cambodia43.1forest area · % of land area
8Myanmar42.4forest area · % of land area
9Thailand38.7forest area · % of land area
10Philippines24.5forest area · % of land area
11Singapore20.9forest area · % of land area
WB/World Bank / FAOforest area · % of land area
SourceWorld Bank / FAO ↗2023 values · checked 3 Oct 2026HIGH CONFIDENCE
Method & notes
Malaysia records 57.7% forest cover, fourth-highest among ASEAN members on this single land-cover measure.
METHOD & LIMITATIONSHow the numbers were calculated
PulseKita compares the same World Bank/FAO forest-area indicator and 2023 reference year across all 11 ASEAN members. Forest-area share describes land cover; it does not measure forest quality, biodiversity, protection status or annual deforestation.
- Malaysia records 57.7% forest area and is 4/11 when ASEAN members are ordered from highest to lowest forest share.
- Brunei Darussalam records 72.1%, Lao PDR 71.5% and Timor-Leste 61.7%.
- Indonesia is 47.7% and Viet Nam 47.4%; Singapore records 20.9%.
- A high forest-area share should not automatically be interpreted as better conservation performance without trend and quality data.
Evidence trail
EVIDENCE CHAINtransformation inherited from methodology
- 1Declared sourceForest area (% of land area)
- 2TransformationPulseKita compares the same World Bank/FAO forest-area indicator and 2023 reference year across all 11 ASEAN members. Forest-area share describes land cover; it does not measure forest quality, biodiversity, protection status or annual deforestation.
- 3Published visualRanked snapshot
Source
HIGH CONFIDENCEofficial primary
COVERAGE2023
UNITforest area · % of land area
SOURCEofficial publication
UPDATED2023 values · checked 3 Oct 2026