Terrestrial protected areas in World
Protected areas covered 16.5% of the land area of the world in 2025. The value for 2025 is the highest in the series, which starts in 2013.
World is a group: All economies covered by the World Bank. The value is the aggregate published by World Bank, not an average calculated on this site.
World, 2025
16.5%
Change from 2024
+0.1percentage points
European Union, 2025
26.6%
Terrestrial protected areas in World over time
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World
European Union
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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 land area. Source: World Bank, World Development Indicators. Gaps mean no published value; points are not joined across missing years.
| Period | World | European Union |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 16.5% | 26.6% |
| 2024 | 16.4% | 26.6% |
| 2023 | 16.1% | 26.3% |
| 2022 | 15.9% | 26.3% |
| 2021 | 15.8% | 26.1% |
| 2020 | 15.4% | 26.0% |
| 2019 | 15.1% | 26.0% |
| 2018 | 15.0% | 25.8% |
| 2017 | 15.1% | 25.9% |
| 2016 | 14.9% | 25.7% |
| 2015 | 15.0% | 25.2% |
| 2014 | 15.2% | 25.1% |
| 2013 | 15.0% | 25.2% |
A dash means no value was published for that period.
In short
- That is a change of +0.1 percentage points from 16.4% in 2024.
- Since 2015, when it was 15.0%, the figure has changed by +1.5 percentage points.
- The figure for the European Union in 2025 was 26.6%.