The quality of governance is known to have effects on deforestation, together with other social and economic factors. However, assessing the impact of governance quality is a challenging task due to the complex and diverse mechanisms of deforestation as well as limited data availability.

In this paper, interrelations between governance quality and deforestation rates are analysed on a global scale, using national data on governance quality and deforestation. Results indicate an increase in governance quality tends to be associated with a decrease in deforestation rates (i.e., a lower level of deforestation). The paper then discusses the limitations of the quantitative assessment, including data issues.