The official status of the much-loved animal has been changed from "endangered" to "vulnerable" because of a population rebound in China.
The change was announced as part of an update to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List.
But the update also brought bad news. The eastern gorilla, the world's largest primate, is now endangered.
Efforts by China, which claims the giant panda as its national animal, have brought its numbers back from the brink. The latest estimates show a population of 1,864 adults.
How did China save the panda?
Eastern gorillas threatened with extinction
There are no exact figures for the numbers of cubs, but estimates bring the total number of giant pandas to 2,060.
"Evidence from a series of range-wide national surveys indicate that the previous population decline has been arrested, and the population has started to increase," said the IUCN's updated report.
"The improved status confirms that the Chinese government's efforts to conserve this species are effective," it added.
But the rebound could be short-lived, the IUCN warned. Climate change is predicted to wipe out more than one-third of the panda's bamboo habitat in the next 80 years.
"And thus panda population is projected to decline, reversing the gains made during the last two decades," the report said.
It added: "To protect this iconic species, it is critical that the effective forest protection measures are continued and that emerging threats are addressed."
John Robinson, a primatologist and chief conservation officer at the Wildlife Conservation Society, told the AFP news agency: "When push comes to shove, the Chinese have done a really good job with pandas.
"So few species are actually downlisted, it really is a reflection of the success of conservation," he told the AFP news agency."
A surge of illegal hunting has taken the eastern gorilla in the other direction, reducing its numbers to just 5,000 across the globe.
Four out of six of the Earth's great apes are now critically endangered - the eastern gorilla, western gorilla, Bornean orangutan and Sumatran orangutan.
"Today is a sad day because the IUCN Red List shows we are wiping out some of our closest relatives," Inger Andersen, IUCN director general, told reporters.
The number of eastern gorillas has declined more than 70% in the past two decades.
The IUCN Red List includes 82,954 species, both plants and animals. Almost one third, 23,928, are listed as being threatened with extinction.

Shortly before midday, the FTSE 100 index was up 41.56 points, or 0.6%, at 7,041.52.
In Asian trade, the pound had sunk 6% against the dollar in a matter of minutes to $1.1841, before recovering.
It is not clear what triggered the flash crash, with some blaming automated trading systems reacting to a news report.
Sterling remained under pressure, and was still down 1.9%, more than 2 cents, against the dollar at $1.2378.
The pound has been sliding all week, with traders nervous about how the UK's talks with the EU over leaving the bloc will progress.
Last Sunday, Prime Minister Theresa May said she would trigger Article 50, the clause needed to start the exit process, by the end of March 2017.
A fall in the pound is often seen as beneficial to the FTSE 100 as many of the companies in the index generate most of their revenues abroad. A weaker pound means overseas revenues are worth more when they are converted back into sterling.
Mining companies were among the biggest gainers in the FTSE 100 on Friday. Shares in Randgold Resources rose 2.6% while BHP Billiton added 2.4%.
Shares in housebuilders were coming under pressure, however, with Barratt Developments down 5% and Taylor Wimpey 4% lower.
In the FTSE 250, shares in William Hill and Ladbrokes were both lower after a report in the Times said gambling companies could be banned from advertising on TV during the day.
The giant panda is no longer an endangered species, following decades of work by conservationists to save it.
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London's main share index headed higher as the pound continued to slide on the foreign exchanges.