Today, we're publishing an updated version of our topic page on forests and deforestation. Humans have been cutting down forests for millennia. The world has lost one-third of its forests since the end of the last ice age, 10,000 years ago. Half of this loss occurred in the last century alone. The main driver of deforestation has been agriculture: humans clearing forests to make space for grazing and croplands. The peak of global deforestation was in the 1980s and early 1990s. Since then, rates have fallen, but they remain high. Today, many temperate countries are regrowing forests, while most deforestation takes place in the tropics. Most of Europe and many parts of Asia are seeing gains in forest cover. Countries across the Americas, much of Africa, and parts of South-East Asia are still losing forests. While deforestation rates may have passed their historical peak, the world is still losing large areas of forest each year. Estimates on how much land is deforested each year vary across sources. From 2001 to 2023, beef production was, by far, the largest driver, accounting for more than 40% of the total. Oilseeds — dominated by soy and oil palm — were the second largest. Overall, around 70% of deforestation is driven by domestic demand for products. The remaining 30% is for traded products. Bringing deforestation to an end is essential to protecting the world’s biodiversity and tackling climate change. On this new version of our topic page, you can find all of our data on forests and deforestation. (This topic update was led by @_HannahRitchie, Fiona Spooner, and @MaxCRoser.)