Nearly half of EU covered by forests

ANKARA

The European Union had around 182 million hectares of forests and other wooded land in 2015, corresponding to 43 percent of its land area, the bloc's statistical office said Thursday.

The latest available data was released by Eurostat on the occasion of the International Day of Forests to "raise awareness of the importance of forests of all types".

"Wooded land covers a slightly greater proportion of the land than the area used for agriculture (some 41 percent)," Eurostat said.

The statistical office noted that in seven EU countries, more than half of the land area was wooded in 2015.

Across the 28-member bloc, Sweden reported the largest wooded area, with 30.5 million hectares.

It was followed by Spain, with 27.6 million hectares, and Finland with 23 million hectares.

"Of the total area of the EU covered by wooded land in 2015, Sweden and Finland together accounted for 29.4 percent," Eurostat said.

The report also revealed that Turkey had nearly 22 million hectares of forest and wooded land in 2015, putting the country in fourth place compared to the 28 EU member states.