Protected areas in South Korea
Protected areas covered 5.9% of the territory of South Korea in 2025.
South Korea, 2025
5.9%
Change from 2024
+0.1percentage points
World, 2025
17.0%
Median of OECD (38 countries), 2025
20.2%
Position in 2025
136th of 213
Protected areas in South Korea over time
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South Korea
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 | South Korea | World |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 5.9% | 17.0% |
| 2024 | 5.8% | 15.3% |
| 2023 | 5.9% | 14.9% |
| 2022 | 5.9% | 14.9% |
| 2021 | 5.9% | 14.7% |
| 2020 | 5.8% | 14.8% |
| 2019 | 5.5% | 14.5% |
| 2018 | 4.0% | 14.1% |
| 2017 | 3.9% | 13.5% |
| 2016 | 3.9% | 13.2% |
| 2015 | 2.6% | 12.1% |
| 2014 | 2.6% | 11.9% |
| 2013 | 2.3% | 11.1% |
A dash means no value was published for that period.
In short
- That is a change of +0.1 percentage points from 5.8% in 2024.
- Since 2015, when it was 2.6%, the figure has changed by +3.3 percentage points.
- Among the 213 countries with data for 2025, South Korea has the 136th highest value.
- The figure for the world in 2025 was 17.0%.