Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation released Environmental Accounting on Forests 2025 Report

Issued by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI), this is the 8th consecutive issue related to environmental accounting. It is also the first dedicated publication on forest accounting based on the United Nations System of Environmental-Economic Accounting (SEEA) framework.

• The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) compiled and released the 8th consecutive issue of the publication related to environmental accounting titled "Environmental Accounting on Forests-2025" on September 25, 2025, during the inaugural session of the 29th Conference of Central and State Statistical Organizations (CoCSSO) held in Chandigarh on September 25-26, 2025.
• Issued by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI), this is the 8th consecutive issue related to environmental accounting. It is also the first dedicated publication on forest accounting based on the United Nations System of Environmental-Economic Accounting (SEEA) framework.

Main findings of the report

1. Physical asset accounting:

• Forest cover (2010-11 to 2021-22): With an increase of 17,444.61 sq. km (2.4%), it reached 7.15 lakh sq. km (21.76% of India’s geographical area).
• Major increase by state: Kerala (4,137 sq. km), Karnataka (3,122 sq. km), and Tamil Nadu (2,606 sq. km).

2.  Extent accounting:

• Forest extent (2013-2023): Net increase of 3,356 sq. km in forest extent due to reclassification and boundary adjustment.
• States with notable increase in recorded forest area (RFA) share: Uttarakhand (6.3%), Odisha (1.97%), and Jharkhand (1.9%).

3.  Condition accounting:

• Assesses the quality of ecosystems focusing on growing stock (volume of usable wood in living trees). Growing stock (2013-23): increased by 305.53 million cubic meters (7.32%).
• Largest contributors: Madhya Pradesh (136 million cubic meters), Chhattisgarh (51 million cubic meters), and Telangana (28 million cubic meters); among Union Territories, Andaman and Nicobar Islands (77 million cubic meters).

4.  Service accounts:

• India’s forest service account shows that between 2011-12 and 2021-22, provisioning services (wood and non-wood products) increased from ₹30.72 thousand crore to ₹37.93 thousand crore, which at current prices for 2013-2023 is about 0.16% of GDP.
• 2021-22. Top states: Maharashtra (23.78), Gujarat (14.15), and Kerala (8.55) thousand crore.

5.  Regulatory services (carbon retention):

• India’s forest service account recorded a 51.82% increase in carbon retention regulatory services, rising from ₹409.1 to ₹620.97 thousand crore between 2015-16 and 2021-22, emphasizing the critical role of forests in climate change mitigation and national targets. In 2021-22, its value was equivalent to 2.63% of GDP at current prices.
• Major contributors: Arunachal Pradesh (296), Uttarakhand (156.6), and Assam (129.96) thousand crore.

United Nations System of Environmental-Economic Accounting (SEEA) framework

• Developed: by the United Nations, European Commission, and Food and Agriculture Organization in 2012.
• Brief description: SEEA is an international statistical standard that integrates economic and environmental data to assess the contribution of the environment to the economy and the impact of the economy on the environment.
• The SEEA framework was first adopted in 2018 by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation.

29th Conference of Central and State Statistical Organizations-2025 ‘COCSSO’ held in Chandigarh

• The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) is organizing the 29th Conference of Central and State Statistical Organizations (CoCSSO) in Chandigarh on September 25 and 26, 2025.
• Since 1971, CoCSSO has played an important role in strengthening center-state coordination.
• The theme of this year’s CoCSSO is ‘Strengthening Local Level Governance’.

PAIMANA Portal

• In line with the digital innovations being undertaken in MoSPI, the PAIMANA portal was introduced for better monitoring of central sector infrastructure projects, while NMDS 2.0 metadata portal, in line with international standards, provides an integrated repository of metadata of all ministries and departments.