DR Congo's forest cover fell from 65.3 % in 1994 to 54.2 % in 2023.
DR Congo · Environment
Forests, air quality, land, water and protected areas.
10 indicators · 10 with data
Land
DR Congo's forest area fell from 1.48M km in 1994 to 1.23M km in 2023.
Terrestrial protected areas (% of total land area)
% of land area
126th of 213 · 29th in Sub-Saharan Africa
DR Congo's terrestrial protected areas (% of total land area) rose from 12.9 % in 2013 to 14.9 % in 2025.
DR Congo's agricultural land (% of land area) rose from 11.5 % in 1994 to 15.5 % in 2023.
DR Congo's arable land (% of land area) rose from 3.0 % in 1994 to 6.6 % in 2023.
Air
DR Congo's air pollution (pm2.5) fell from 36.6 in 1994 to 35.8 in 2023.
Water
DR Congo's water stress rose from 0.1 % in 1995 to 0.1 % in 2022.
Renewable internal freshwater resources per capita
cubic metres per person
52nd of 181 · 11th in Sub-Saharan Africa
DR Congo's renewable internal freshwater resources per capita fell from 22,137 in 1993 to 8,789 in 2022.
Access
DR Congo's safe drinking water fell from 12.2 % in 2000 to 11.9 % in 2024.
DR Congo's safe sanitation fell from 22.0 % in 2000 to 13.1 % in 2024.