What's the deforestation rate in the Amazon?

By Rhett A. Butler
Last update: Jul 7, 2023

This page collects deforestation alert data published by Brazil’s National Institute for Space Research (INPE) and Imazon, a Brazilian NGO. INPE's system is call DETER, while Imazon’s is called SAD.

As explained here, month-to-month deforestation is highly variable. Short-term, alert-based deforestation detection systems do not penetrate cloud cover, so during the rainy season — from roughly November to April — estimates are notoriously unreliable when compared to the same month a year earlier. Furthermore, most forest clearing in the Amazon occurs when it is dry. So if the dry season is early, deforestation may increase earlier than normal. For these reasons, the most accurate deforestation comparisons are made year-on-year. For Brazil, the deforestation “year” ends July 31: the peak of the dry season when the largest extent of forest is typically visible via satellite.

Short-term data isn’t useless though — it can provide insights on trends, especially over longer periods of time. Generally, comparing 12 consecutive months of alert data will provide a pretty good indication of deforestation relative to other years. Therefore the charts below include monthly data as well as the 12-month moving average (Trailing Twelve Months = "TTM").

Monthly deforestation according to INPE’s deforestation alert system, DETER, and Imazon’s SAD system. Imazon is a Brazilian NGO that tracks deforestation independently of the Brazilian government.

Table: Monthly deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon.

All figures in square kilometers

Month	DETER	DETER TTM	SAD	SAD TTM
Apr 2008	1,124		156
May 2008	1,096	9,190	294	5,603
Jun 2008	871	9,064	612	5,716
Jul 2008	324	8,536	276	5,031
Aug 2008	757	7,835	102	4,470
Sep 2008	587	8,400	321	3,679
Oct 2008	541	8,457	102	3,257
Nov 2008	355	8,554	61	2,251
Dec 2008	177	8,013	50	2,233
Jan 2009	222	7,342	51	2,202
Feb 2009	143	6,925	62	2,201
Mar 2009	18	6,343	57	2,144
Apr 2009	37	6,214	121	2,109
May 2009	124	5,127	157	1,972
Jun 2009	578	4,155	150	1,510
Jul 2009	836	3,862	532	1,766
Aug 2009	498	4,375	273	1,937
Sep 2009	400	4,116	216	1,832
Oct 2009	176	3,929	194	1,924
Nov 2009	72	3,564	74	1,937
Dec 2009		3,281	16	1,903
Jan 2010	23	3,104	63	1,915
Feb 2010	185	2,905	88	1,941
Mar 2010	52	2,947	76	1,960
Apr 2010	52	2,981	65	1,904
May 2010	110	2,996	96	1,843
Jun 2010	244	2,982	172	1,865
Jul 2010	485	2,647	155	1,488
Aug 2010	265	2,296	210	1,425
Sep 2010	448	2,063	170	1,379
Oct 2010	389	2,111	153	1,338
Nov 2010	121	2,324	65	1,329
Dec 2010	21	2,372	175	1,488
Jan 2011	36	2,394	83	1,508
Feb 2011	1	2,407	63	1,483
Mar 2011	116	2,223	46	1,453
Apr 2011	477	2,287	298	1,686
May 2011	268	2,712	165	1,755
Jun 2011	313	2,871	99	1,682
Jul 2011	225	2,940	93	1,620
Aug 2011	163	2,680	240	1,650
Sep 2011	254	2,578	170	1,650
Oct 2011	386	2,384	102	1,599
Nov 2011	133	2,381	16	1,550
Dec 2011	75	2,393	40	1,415
Jan 2012	22	2,446	33	1,365
Feb 2012	307	2,432	107	1,409
Mar 2012	60	2,737	53	1,416
Apr 2012	233	2,681	71	1,189
May 2012	99	2,437	43	1,067
Jun 2012	108	2,268	35	1,003
Jul 2012	214	2,062	140	1,050
Aug 2012	522	2,051	232	1,042
Sep 2012	283	2,410	431	1,303
Oct 2012	277	2,439	487	1,688
Nov 2012	205	2,331	55	1,727
Dec 2012	131	2,403	82	1,769
Jan 2013	9	2,459	35	1,771
Feb 2013	270	2,447	45	1,709
Mar 2013	28	2,410	80	1,736
Apr 2013	147	2,378	140	1,805
May 2013	465	2,293	84	1,846
Jun 2013	210	2,659	184	1,995
Jul 2013	217	2,762	152	2,007
Aug 2013	289	2,766	185	1,960
Sep 2013	443	2,532	103	1,632
Oct 2013	155	2,692	43	1,188
Nov 2013	108	2,569	37	1,170
Dec 2013	93	2,472	56	1,144
Jan 2014	75	2,434	107	1,216
Feb 2014	119	2,500	11	1,182
Mar 2014	53	2,349	20	1,122
Apr 2014	166	2,374	100	1,082
May 2014	271	2,394	185	1,183
Jun 2014	535	2,200	843	1,842
Jul 2014	729	2,525	355	2,045
Aug 2014	890	3,036	437	2,297
Sep 2014	736	3,638	402	2,596
Oct 2014	298	3,931	244	2,797
Nov 2014	77	4,074	195	2,955
Dec 2014	85	4,043	95	2,994
Jan 2015	129	4,035	289	3,176
Feb 2015	61	4,089	42	3,207
Mar 2015	155	4,031	58	3,245
Apr 2015	334	4,133	137	3,282
May 2015	588	4,301	389	3,486
Jun 2015	855	4,618	494	3,137
Jul 2015	914	4,937	542	3,324
Aug 2015	654	5,122	415	3,302
Sep 2015	504	4,885	229	3,129
Oct 2015	377	4,653	230	3,115
Nov 2015	240	4,732	99	3,019
Dec 2015	89	4,896	175	3,099
Jan 2016	63	4,899	52	2,862
Feb 2016	534	4,832	0	2,820
Mar 2016	123	5,305	213	2,975
Apr 2016	436	5,274	183	3,021
May 2016	784	5,375	474	3,106
Jun 2016	1,431	5,571	972	3,584
Jul 2016	738	6,147	539	3,581
Aug 2016	1,025	5,974	582	3,748
Sep 2016	691	6,164	387	3,906
Oct 2016	750	6,364	202	3,878
Nov 2016	367	6,418	37	3,816
Dec 2016	17	6,162	0	3,641
Jan 2017	58	5,986	42	3,631
Feb 2017	101	5,971	0	3,631
Mar 2017	74	5,737	97	3,515
Apr 2017	127	5,437	96	3,428
May 2017	363	5,270	365	3,319
Jun 2017	609	4,928	537	2,884
Jul 2017	458	4,639	544	2,889
Aug 2017	278	3,892	184	2,491
Sep 2017	403	3,603	241	2,345
Oct 2017	440	3,293	261	2,404
Nov 2017	354	3,280	56	2,423
Dec 2017	288	3,551	184	2,607
Jan 2018	183	3,676	70	2,635
Feb 2018	146	3,721	214	2,849
Mar 2018	357	4,003	287	3,039
Apr 2018	490	4,366	217	3,160
May 2018	550	4,552	634	3,429
Jun 2018	488	4,432	1,169	4,061
Jul 2018	596	4,571	778	4,295
Aug 2018	530	4,823	545	4,656
Sep 2018	746	5,166	444	4,859
Oct 2018	526	5,253	187	4,785
Nov 2018	277	5,176	287	5,016
Dec 2018	67	4,955	246	5,078
Jan 2019	136	4,909	108	5,116
Feb 2019	139	4,902	93	4,995
Mar 2019	251	4,796	67	4,775
Apr 2019	247	4,554	195	4,753
May 2019	739	4,743	797	4,916
Jun 2019	935	5,190	801	4,548
Jul 2019	2,255	6,849	1,287	5,057
Aug 2019	1,713	8,032	886	5,398
Sep 2019	1,453	8,739	802	5,756
Oct 2019	555	8,768	583	6,152
Nov 2019	563	9,054	354	6,219
Dec 2019	190	9,176	227	6,200
Jan 2020	284	9,325	188	6,280
Feb 2020	186	9,371	102	6,289
Mar 2020	327	9,447	324	6,546
Apr 2020	407	9,607	529	6,880
May 2020	834	9,702	649	6,732
Jun 2020	1,043	9,810	822	6,753
Jul 2020	1,659	9,214	1,147	6,613
Aug 2020	1,359	8,859	1,499	7,226
Sep 2020	964	8,371	1,218	7,642
Oct 2020	836	8,652	890	7,949
Nov 2020	310	8,399	484	8,079
Dec 2020	216	8,425	276	8,128
Jan 2021	86	8,227	196	8,136
Feb 2021	125	8,166	179	8,213
Mar 2021	368	8,206	810	8,699
Apr 2021	580	8,379	778	8,948
May 2021	1,390	8,936	1,125	9,424
Jun 2021	1,061	8,954	926	9,528
Jul 2021	1,498	8,793	2,095	10,476
Aug 2021	918	8,352	1,606	10,583
Sep 2021	985	8,372	1,224	10,589
Oct 2021	877	8,413	803	10,502
Nov 2021	249	8,352	480	10,498
Dec 2021	87	8,223	140	10,362
Jan 2022	430	8,568	261	10,427
Feb 2022	199	8,642	303	10,551
Mar 2022	312	8,587	123	9,864
Apr 2022	1,026	9,033	1,197	10,283
May 2022	900	8,543	1,476	10,634
Jun 2022	1,120	8,602	1,429	11,137
Jul 2022	1,487	8,590	1,739	10,781
Aug 2022	1,661	9,333	1,415	10,590
Sep 2022	1,455	9,803	1,126	10,492
Oct 2022	904	9,831	627	10,316
Nov 2022	555	10,136	590	10,426
Dec 2022	229	10,278	287	10,573
Jan 2023	167	10,014	198	10,510
Feb 2023	322	10,137	325	10,532
Mar 2023	356	10,181	344	10,753
Apr 2023	329	9,483	336	9,892
May 2023	812	9,396	339	8,755
Jun 2023	663	8,939

* In August 2016, the table data for the DETER columns switches from DETER to DETER-B, Brazil's new deforestation detection system.

Drone photo of deforestation in the Bolivian Amazon for soybeans. Photo by Rhett A. Butler.

Last update: 2023-Jun-30

Table: Annual deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon. All figures in square kilometers

year	sq mi	sq km
1988	8,127	21,050
1989	6,861	17,770
1990	5,301	13,730
1991	4,259	11,030
1992	5,323	13,786
1993	5,751	14,896
1994	5,751	14,896
1995	11,220	29,059
1996	7,012	18,161
1997	5,107	13,227
1998	6,712	17,383
1999	6,664	17,259
2000	7,037	18,226
2001	7,014	18,165
2002	8,359	21,651
2003	9,805	25,396
2004	10,723	27,772
2005	7,341	19,014
2006	5,516	14,286
2007	4,498	11,651
2008	4,985	12,911
2009	2,882	7,464
2010	2,703	7,000
2011	2,478	6,418
2012	1,765	4,571
2013	2,275	5,891
2014	1,935	5,012
2015	2,397	6,207
2016	3,047	7,893
2017	2,682	6,947
2018	2,910	7,536
2019	3,911	10,129
2020	4,190	10,851
2021	5,034	13,038
2022	4,466	11,568