Protected areas by country, 2025, European Union (27 countries)
Protected land and marine areas, such as nature reserves and national parks, as a share of total territorial area including territorial waters.
27 places ranked for 2025. Highest: Slovenia (40.1%). Lowest: Ireland (4.0%). The median is 22.1%.
Members since the United Kingdom left the EU on 31 January 2020. About this group
Highest 10
- 1. Slovenia 40.1%
- 2. Germany 40.0%
- 3. Luxembourg 39.1%
- 4. Poland 38.1%
- 5. Slovakia 37.5%
- 6. France 36.7%
- 7. Bulgaria 35.6%
- 8. Netherlands 29.8%
- 9. Austria 29.6%
- 10. Romania 24.3%
Lowest 10
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Source: World Bank, World Development Indicators.
Full ranking
| # | Country | Value | Period | Relative size |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Slovenia | 40.1% | 2025 | |
| 2 | Germany | 40.0% | 2025 | |
| 3 | Luxembourg | 39.1% | 2025 | |
| 4 | Poland | 38.1% | 2025 | |
| 5 | Slovakia | 37.5% | 2025 | |
| 6 | France | 36.7% | 2025 | |
| 7 | Bulgaria | 35.6% | 2025 | |
| 8 | Netherlands | 29.8% | 2025 | |
| 9 | Austria | 29.6% | 2025 | |
| 10 | Romania | 24.3% | 2025 | |
| 11 | Croatia | 24.1% | 2025 | |
| 12 | Denmark | 23.8% | 2025 | |
| 13 | Hungary | 22.3% | 2025 | |
| 14 | Spain | 22.1% | 2025 | |
| 15 | Czechia | 21.9% | 2025 | |
| 16 | Estonia | 20.5% | 2025 | |
| 17 | Belgium | 18.6% | 2025 | |
| 18 | Lithuania | 18.4% | 2025 | |
| 19 | Latvia | 18.1% | 2025 | |
| 20 | Portugal | 17.2% | 2025 | |
| 21 | Sweden | 15.9% | 2025 | |
| 22 | Italy | 14.8% | 2025 | |
| 23 | Finland | 13.5% | 2025 | |
| 24 | Greece | 11.2% | 2025 | |
| 25 | Cyprus | 11.1% | 2025 | |
| 26 | Malta | 8.0% | 2025 | |
| 27 | Ireland | 4.0% | 2025 |
Places are ordered from the highest to the lowest value. Group medians on this site are the middle value of the members with data for the same year; they are not official aggregates.
How this ranking works
Every country is ranked on its value for 2025, the latest period that most countries have, so all values are for the same point in time. Countries without a value for 2025 are left out. Groups and aggregates such as the European Union are not ranked. Values are as published by World Bank; the ranking is a plain ordering from the highest to the lowest value and says nothing about whether a high value is good or bad.
Earlier years: use the year selector above. Methodology · Coverage and freshness