Protected areas in North America
Protected areas covered 13.7% of the territory of North America in 2025.
North America is a group: World Bank region. The value is the aggregate published by World Bank, not an average calculated on this site.
North America, 2025
13.7%
Change from 2024
0percentage points
World, 2025
17.0%
Protected areas in North America over time
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North America
World
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The chart loads when you scroll to it. The table below shows the same data.
The chart shows a calculation from the published values. The table below keeps the published values.
% of total territorial area. Source: World Bank, World Development Indicators. Gaps mean no published value; points are not joined across missing years.
| Period | North America | World |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 13.7% | 17.0% |
| 2024 | 13.7% | 15.3% |
| 2023 | 13.7% | 14.9% |
| 2022 | 13.6% | 14.9% |
| 2021 | 13.4% | 14.7% |
| 2020 | 17.0% | 14.8% |
| 2019 | 17.6% | 14.5% |
| 2018 | 17.2% | 14.1% |
| 2017 | 17.0% | 13.5% |
| 2016 | 16.9% | 13.2% |
| 2015 | 13.5% | 12.1% |
| 2014 | 9.2% | 11.9% |
| 2013 | 10.0% | 11.1% |
A dash means no value was published for that period.
In short
- That is unchanged from 2024.
- Since 2015, when it was 13.5%, the figure has changed by +0.2 percentage points.
- The figure for the world in 2025 was 17.0%.