environmental2024

Share of protected area that is designated for biodiversity conservation (Protected Area Management Categories I–IV)

Compare countries by the share of their protected areas under IUCN-style biodiversity-focused categories (I–IV), from WDPA data (latest year).

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Key Insights

Global Average
34.5%
Median: 33.0%
Countries Covered
176
with available data
Highest
Andorra
68.1%
Lowest
Qatar
10.8%
Top 5 Countries
1Andorra68.1%
2Costa Rica66.7%
3Barbados63.9%
4Maldives63.1%
5Honduras62.4%
By Region
Oceania53.6%(2 countries)
North America47.1%(4 countries)
South America40.6%(7 countries)
Other40.3%(97 countries)
Africa35.4%(9 countries)

Country Rankings

Top 10 Countries

Bottom 10 Countries

Data Analysis

Value Distribution

How countries are distributed across the value range

Low (10.8%)High (68.1%)

Regional Comparison

Average values by world region (Global avg: 34.5%)

Oceania (2)
North America (4)
South America (7)
Other (97)
Africa (9)
Asia (26)
Europe (31)

Percentile Profile

The curve shows how values change from the lowest to the highest country. Steep sections reveal inequality or outliers.

0th percentile · lowest100th percentile · highest

About This Statistic

Compare countries by the share of their protected areas under IUCN-style biodiversity-focused categories (I–IV), from WDPA data (latest year). Source: UNEP-WCMC & IUCN (World Database on Protected Areas, WDPA).

Methodology

Country values are taken from the latest observation available in the linked source series.

Full Data

Rank Country Value
1Andorra68.1%
2Costa Rica66.7%
3Barbados63.9%
4Maldives63.1%
5Honduras62.4%
6Panama62.0%
7Belize61.1%
8Nicaragua60.8%
9Fiji60.3%
10Bermuda59.4%
11New Caledonia59.0%
12Suriname58.9%
13Madagascar58.6%
14Cape Verde58.0%
15Mauritius57.9%
16Bolivia57.8%
17El Salvador57.2%
18Peru56.5%
19Guyana56.0%
20Brunei Darussalam55.7%
21Trinidad and Tobago55.5%
22Ecuador54.8%
23Australia54.3%
24United Republic of Tanzania54.1%
25Guatemala53.6%
26Namibia53.0%
27New Zealand52.9%
28Mozambique52.6%
29Comoros52.2%
30Benin51.5%
31Jamaica50.6%
32Ethiopia49.9%
33Rwanda49.5%
34Canada49.2%
35Malawi49.1%
36Papua New Guinea48.7%
37Zambia48.2%
38Kenya47.9%
39Uganda47.6%
40Solomon Islands47.4%
41Austria46.9%
42Somalia46.5%
43Vanuatu46.0%
44Cuba45.6%
45Timor-Leste45.2%
46Republic of The Gambia44.8%
47Morocco44.6%
48Venezuela44.3%
49Botswana44.2%
50Zimbabwe44.1%
51Lesotho44.0%
52United States of America43.5%
53Dominican Republic43.1%
54Brazil42.6%
55Mexico42.0%
56Djibouti41.9%
57Albania41.7%
58Paraguay41.3%
59Libya41.0%
60Chad40.8%
61Sierra Leone40.4%
62Cote d'Ivoire39.8%
63Burkina Faso39.6%
64Cameroon39.5%
65Guinea-Bissau39.0%
66Bosnia and Herzegovina38.9%
67Mali38.6%
68Ghana38.2%
69Colombia37.8%
70Armenia37.1%
71Togo36.7%
72Cayman Islands36.4%
73Niger36.1%
74Senegal35.8%
75Gabon35.6%
76Kyrgyzstan35.3%
77Virgin Islands, British35.0%
78Chile34.9%
79Philippines34.7%
80Uruguay34.6%
81Antigua and Barbuda34.5%
82Tajikistan34.4%
83Mauritania34.2%
84Indonesia34.0%
85South Sudan33.9%
86Cambodia33.7%
87Afghanistan33.2%
88Nigeria33.1%
89Malaysia32.8%
90Burundi32.6%
91Japan31.9%
92Vietnam31.6%
93Democratic Republic of the Congo31.4%
94Yemen31.0%
95Lao People's Democratic Republic30.9%
96Guinea30.8%
97Thailand30.6%
98Central African Republic30.2%
99Angola29.8%
100Iceland29.6%
101Republic of the Congo29.1%
102Sudan29.0%
103Israel28.9%
104Haiti28.7%
105South Korea28.4%
106Myanmar28.3%
107Cyprus28.0%
108Norway27.7%
109Algeria27.5%
110Georgia27.2%
111Sri Lanka26.8%
112Mongolia26.1%
113Nepal25.9%
114Bahrain25.6%
115Kazakhstan25.2%
116Uzbekistan25.0%
117Malta24.9%
118Bhutan24.7%
119Eswatini24.6%
120Greece24.4%
121Egypt24.1%
122Taiwan, Province of China24.0%
123South Africa23.9%
124Pakistan23.8%
125Tunisia23.7%
126Denmark23.6%
127Jordan23.3%
128Argentina22.9%
129India22.6%
130Russian Federation22.4%
131Spain22.3%
132Croatia22.1%
133Portugal21.9%
134Monaco21.5%
135Belgium21.3%
136Eritrea21.0%
137France20.7%
138Ireland20.4%
139Sweden20.2%
140United Kingdom20.1%
141Czech Republic19.8%
142Poland19.6%
143Switzerland19.5%
144Italy19.4%
145Türkiye19.2%
146Bulgaria19.1%
147Moldova, Republic of19.0%
148Hungary18.9%
149Slovakia18.8%
150People's Republic of China18.7%
151Lithuania18.6%
152Bahamas18.4%
153Romania18.3%
154Lebanon18.1%
155Ukraine18.0%
156Latvia17.9%
157Estonia17.6%
158Slovenia17.5%
159The Republic of North Macedonia17.3%
160Islamic Republic of Iran17.2%
161Serbia17.1%
162Bangladesh16.8%
163Montenegro16.7%
164Iraq16.5%
165Finland16.2%
166Syrian Arab Republic16.0%
167Netherlands15.8%
168Belarus14.9%
169Singapore14.3%
170Luxembourg14.1%
171Saudi Arabia12.7%
172Greenland12.5%
173Kuwait12.2%
174United Arab Emirates11.6%
175Oman11.3%
176Qatar10.8%
Showing 176 of 176 countries

Topics

Data Source

This data comes from UNEP-WCMC & IUCN (World Database on Protected Areas, WDPA) (2024).

View Original Source