The tropics lost 6.7 million hectares of primary forest in 2024, according to Global Forest Watch. That was the highest annual total on record, driven largely by fire in a drought year. Understanding the deforestation causes behind numbers like these requires looking at five main drivers, each tied to specific commodities, regions, and economic pressures.
This article breaks down the major causes of deforestation, where they concentrate geographically, what they mean for the climate and biodiversity, and how regulations and technology are beginning to respond.
Global Deforestation by the Numbers
The Food and Agriculture Organization’s 2025 Global Forest Resources Assessment estimates that the world has lost 420 million hectares of forest since 1990, an area larger than the European Union. The net rate has slowed, from 7.8 million hectares per year in the 1990s to 4.7 million hectares per year between 2010 and 2020. But that net figure includes reforestation and new plantations; gross tropical forest loss continues at record levels.
Global Forest Watch, which tracks tree cover loss from satellite data, recorded over 30 million hectares of total tree cover loss in 2024. Of that, 6.7 million hectares were tropical primary forest, which stores far more carbon per hectare than secondary or planted forest. Fire accounted for a larger share of the 2024 total than any previous year, with drought conditions across the Amazon, Southeast Asia, and Central Africa fueling extensive burns.
Major Causes of Deforestation
Agriculture and Commodity Crop Expansion
Agriculture is the single largest cause of deforestation, responsible for roughly 80% of global forest loss according to the FAO. The specific crops vary by region: palm oil in Southeast Asia, soy in South America, cocoa in West Africa, and coffee in Vietnam and Central America. What they share is a pattern where expanding production into forest land is cheaper than intensifying yields on existing farmland.
Small-scale and subsistence farming also drives significant deforestation, particularly in Africa. The distinction between “commercial” and “subsistence” agriculture is blurry in practice: many smallholders grow both food crops and cash crops like cocoa or coffee on cleared forest land.
Cattle Ranching
Cattle ranching is the leading deforestation cause in Latin America, particularly in the Brazilian Amazon and the Cerrado. An estimated 80% of Amazon deforestation is driven by cattle, with Brazil’s herd exceeding 200 million head. Land speculation amplifies the problem: forest is cleared to establish a legal claim, then converted to pasture as the cheapest way to demonstrate “productive use.”
The cattle supply chain’s traceability challenges make it one of the hardest commodities to verify as deforestation-free. Animals move between farms multiple times before slaughter, and indirect supplier networks are often opaque.
Logging (Legal and Illegal)
Commercial logging, both legal and illegal, accounts for an estimated 10-15% of tropical deforestation. Illegal logging is particularly destructive because it opens roads into previously inaccessible forest, attracting settlers and ranchers who clear the remaining trees. The Chatham House estimates that 15-30% of all global timber trade involves illegally sourced wood.
Selective logging, where only high-value trees are extracted, is harder to detect from satellites than clear-cutting. But it degrades forest structure, reduces carbon storage, and makes the remaining forest more vulnerable to fire and further clearing.
Mining
Mining drives localized but severe deforestation, particularly illegal gold mining (garimpo) in the Amazon and industrial-scale mining in the Congo Basin and Southeast Asia. Mining’s indirect footprint is often larger than the mine itself: access roads, processing facilities, and worker settlements expand the cleared area. Mercury contamination from artisanal gold mining also kills vegetation in surrounding watersheds.
Fire
Fire has emerged as an increasingly dominant deforestation cause, amplified by climate change. The 2024 fire season was the worst on record for tropical forests, with drought conditions drying out forests that do not normally burn. In the Brazilian Amazon, fires are primarily set intentionally to clear land for agriculture, but in drought years they escape into standing forest. In Indonesia, peat fires during El Nino years can burn for months underground, destroying forest and releasing massive quantities of stored carbon.
Fire-driven deforestation is expected to increase as global temperatures rise, creating a feedback loop: deforestation reduces rainfall, drier conditions increase fire risk, and fire destroys more forest.
Tropical Deforestation Hotspots
South America
Brazil accounts for more tropical primary forest loss than any other country, followed by Bolivia and Colombia. The Amazon and Cerrado biomes are the primary frontiers. Brazil’s deforestation rate dropped 63% from 2020 to 2025 under strengthened enforcement, but Bolivia’s rate has increased sharply, partly as soy and cattle operations shift across the border.
Central Africa
The Democratic Republic of Congo lost 1.3 million hectares of primary forest in 2023, the second-highest national total after Brazil. Smallholder agriculture, charcoal production, and artisanal mining are the main drivers. Cloud cover makes satellite monitoring difficult in the Congo Basin, leading to likely undercounting of actual forest loss.
Southeast Asia
Indonesia and Malaysia drove the bulk of Southeast Asian deforestation from 2000 to 2015, primarily for oil palm. Indonesian deforestation has declined significantly since 2016 following a moratorium on new palm oil concessions in primary forest and peatland. However, secondary forest clearing continues, and fire remains a recurring threat during dry years.
Effects on Climate
Deforestation accounts for roughly 11% of global greenhouse gas emissions, according to the IPCC. When forests are cleared, the carbon stored in trees, roots, and soil is released as CO2. Tropical forests store an estimated 200-300 tonnes of carbon per hectare; converting that to agricultural land releases most of it within a few years.
The 2024 fire season alone released 3.1 gigatonnes of CO2 equivalent from tropical forests, according to Global Forest Watch. That single year’s emissions from tropical deforestation and fire exceeded the annual emissions of India.
Beyond carbon, forests regulate regional rainfall patterns, moderate temperatures, and buffer against extreme weather events. The Amazon produces 30-50% of its own rainfall through evapotranspiration; large-scale deforestation there threatens to push the forest past a tipping point into a drier, savanna-like state.
Deforestation and Biodiversity
Tropical forests hold roughly 50% of all known species, concentrated on just 6% of Earth’s land area. Deforestation is the leading cause of habitat loss and species extinction in the tropics. The IUCN Red List identifies habitat loss, driven primarily by deforestation, as the top threat to 85% of species classified as threatened or endangered.
Forest fragmentation compounds the damage. Small, isolated forest patches cannot support viable populations of large mammals, migratory birds, or species with limited ranges. Edge effects, where the boundary between forest and cleared land alters temperature, humidity, and light penetration, degrade habitat quality for hundreds of meters into the remaining forest.
What’s Being Done About Deforestation Causes
The EUDR
The EU Deforestation Regulation targets the demand side by prohibiting products linked to deforestation from entering the EU market. It covers seven commodities: palm oil, soy, cocoa, coffee, rubber, cattle, and wood. Companies must prove with GPS coordinates and satellite verification that their supply is deforestation-free relative to the December 31, 2020 cutoff. Penalties reach 4% of EU turnover.
Satellite Monitoring
Land cover analysis from Sentinel-2, Landsat, and MODIS provides the data backbone for both enforcement and compliance. Automated alert systems like GLAD and DETER detect clearing within days. Platforms like Continuuiti’s LULC+ enable companies to verify land cover status at any coordinate, generating year-by-year timelines with deforestation risk scoring.
International Commitments
The Glasgow Leaders’ Declaration (2021) committed 145 countries to halt forest loss by 2030. The Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (2022) set a target to protect 30% of land and ocean by 2030. Whether these commitments translate into action depends on enforcement, financing, and political will in producing countries.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the biggest cause of deforestation?
Agriculture is the biggest cause of deforestation, responsible for roughly 80% of global forest loss according to the FAO. Commodity crops like palm oil, soy, cocoa, and coffee drive commercial-scale clearing, while subsistence farming contributes significantly in Africa. Cattle ranching alone accounts for 80% of Amazon deforestation.
How much forest is lost each year?
The tropics lost 6.7 million hectares of primary forest in 2024, a record high according to Global Forest Watch. Total global tree cover loss exceeded 30 million hectares. The net rate of forest loss has slowed from 7.8 million hectares per year in the 1990s to 4.7 million hectares per year between 2010 and 2020, but gross tropical loss continues to increase.
How does deforestation affect climate change?
Deforestation accounts for roughly 11% of global greenhouse gas emissions according to the IPCC. When forests are cleared, the carbon stored in trees, roots, and soil is released as CO2. Tropical forests store 200-300 tonnes of carbon per hectare. The 2024 fire season released 3.1 gigatonnes of CO2 from tropical forests alone.
Which countries have the most deforestation?
Brazil has the highest absolute tropical forest loss, followed by the Democratic Republic of Congo, Bolivia, and Indonesia. Brazil’s rate has dropped 63% since 2020 under strengthened enforcement, while Bolivia’s has increased. Indonesia’s rate declined after 2016 following palm oil concession moratoriums.
How does deforestation affect biodiversity?
Tropical forests hold roughly 50% of all known species on just 6% of land area. Deforestation is the leading cause of habitat loss and species extinction. The IUCN identifies habitat loss, driven primarily by deforestation, as the top threat to 85% of species classified as threatened or endangered.
What is the EUDR doing about deforestation?
The EU Deforestation Regulation prohibits products linked to post-2020 deforestation from the EU market. It covers seven commodities (palm oil, soy, cocoa, coffee, rubber, cattle, and wood). Companies must provide GPS coordinates and satellite-verified evidence that their supply is deforestation-free. Non-compliance penalties reach 4% of EU turnover.
The causes of deforestation are well understood: agriculture, ranching, logging, mining, and fire. What has changed is the response. Satellite systems now detect clearing within days, the EUDR applies trade consequences to deforestation-linked products, and the data infrastructure to verify compliance at scale exists. The question is whether these tools will be applied fast enough to keep pace with the economic pressures that continue to drive forest loss.
