Terrestrial protected areas in Bulgaria

Protected areas covered 44.3% of the land area of Bulgaria in 2025.

Measure: Terrestrial protected areas Unit: % of land area Data: 2013 to 2025 Source: World Bank
Bulgaria, 2025 44.3% % of land area
Change from 2024 0percentage points 2024: 44.3%
European Union, 2025 26.6% Official aggregate
Median of European Union (27 countries), 2025 24.6% Middle value of 27 countries
Position in 2025 6th of 213 See the full ranking

Terrestrial protected areas in Bulgaria over time

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Bulgaria European Union ×

% of land area. Source: World Bank, World Development Indicators. Gaps mean no published value; points are not joined across missing years.

Terrestrial protected areas (% of land area), 2013 to 2025
Period BulgariaEuropean Union
2025 44.3% 26.6%
2024 44.3% 26.6%
2023 41.0% 26.3%
2022 41.0% 26.3%
2021 41.0% 26.1%
2020 41.0% 26.0%
2019 40.6% 26.0%
2018 34.7% 25.8%
2017 34.7% 25.9%
2016 34.7% 25.7%
2015 40.6% 25.2%
2014 40.6% 25.1%
2013 45.2% 25.2%

A dash means no value was published for that period.

In short

  • That is unchanged from 2024.
  • Since 2015, when it was 40.6%, the figure has changed by +3.7 percentage points.
  • Among the 213 countries with data for 2025, Bulgaria has the 6th highest value.
  • The figure for the European Union in 2025 was 26.6%.

Source and dates

Original producer
UNEP-WCMC and IUCN, World Database on Protected Areas
Distributed by
World Bank, World Development Indicators
Dataset or series code
ER.LND.PTLD.ZS · dataset details · view at source
Observation period
2013 to 2025 for Bulgaria
Provider update
8 October 2026
Retrieved
9 November 2026
Published here
9 November 2026
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (per series metadata)
Attribution
Source: World Bank, World Development Indicators, original data: UNEP-WCMC and IUCN, World Database on Protected Areas