Protected areas by country, 2025, OECD (38 countries)
Protected land and marine areas, such as nature reserves and national parks, as a share of total territorial area including territorial waters.
38 places ranked for 2025. Highest: United Kingdom (42.1%). Lowest: Iceland (2.9%). The median is 20.2%.
Members since Costa Rica joined on 25 May 2021. About this group
Highest 10
- 1. United Kingdom 42.1%
- 2. Slovenia 40.1%
- 3. Germany 40.0%
- 4. Luxembourg 39.1%
- 5. Poland 38.1%
- 6. Chile 37.9%
- 7. Slovakia 37.5%
- 8. France 36.7%
- 9. Australia 33.5%
- 10. New Zealand 30.6%
Lowest 10
- 38. Iceland 2.9%
- 37. Ireland 4.0%
- 36. Norway 5.4%
- 35. Türkiye 5.7%
- 34. South Korea 5.9%
- 33. Greece 11.2%
- 32. Canada 11.6%
- 31. Israel 12.2%
- 30. Switzerland 12.5%
- 29. Finland 13.5%
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Source: World Bank, World Development Indicators.
Full ranking
| # | Country | Value | Period | Relative size |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United Kingdom | 42.1% | 2025 | |
| 2 | Slovenia | 40.1% | 2025 | |
| 3 | Germany | 40.0% | 2025 | |
| 4 | Luxembourg | 39.1% | 2025 | |
| 5 | Poland | 38.1% | 2025 | |
| 6 | Chile | 37.9% | 2025 | |
| 7 | Slovakia | 37.5% | 2025 | |
| 8 | France | 36.7% | 2025 | |
| 9 | Australia | 33.5% | 2025 | |
| 10 | New Zealand | 30.6% | 2025 | |
| 11 | Netherlands | 29.8% | 2025 | |
| 12 | Austria | 29.6% | 2025 | |
| 13 | Costa Rica | 28.2% | 2025 | |
| 14 | Colombia | 26.5% | 2025 | |
| 15 | Denmark | 23.8% | 2025 | |
| 16 | Hungary | 22.3% | 2025 | |
| 17 | Spain | 22.1% | 2025 | |
| 18 | Czechia | 21.9% | 2025 | |
| 19 | Estonia | 20.5% | 2025 | |
| 20 | Mexico | 19.9% | 2025 | |
| 21 | Belgium | 18.6% | 2025 | |
| 22 | Lithuania | 18.4% | 2025 | |
| 23 | Latvia | 18.1% | 2025 | |
| 24 | Portugal | 17.2% | 2025 | |
| 25 | Sweden | 15.9% | 2025 | |
| 26 | United States | 15.8% | 2025 | |
| 27 | Japan | 15.1% | 2025 | |
| 28 | Italy | 14.8% | 2025 | |
| 29 | Finland | 13.5% | 2025 | |
| 30 | Switzerland | 12.5% | 2025 | |
| 31 | Israel | 12.2% | 2025 | |
| 32 | Canada | 11.6% | 2025 | |
| 33 | Greece | 11.2% | 2025 | |
| 34 | South Korea | 5.9% | 2025 | |
| 35 | Türkiye | 5.7% | 2025 | |
| 36 | Norway | 5.4% | 2025 | |
| 37 | Ireland | 4.0% | 2025 | |
| 38 | Iceland | 2.9% | 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.
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