⚠️ Unconfirmedenvironmental2023

Share of terrestrial and marine areas protected (SDG 14.5.1 / 15.1.2) — total protected area coverage

Name: Share of terrestrial and marine areas protected (SDG 14.5.1 / 15.1.2) — total protected area coverage
Creator: UN SDG Global Database (UNEP-WCMC / Protected Planet)
Keywords: statistic-of-the-day, ai-generated, protected areas, biodiversity, conservation, SDG14, SDG15, marine protection, terrestrial protection

Percent of a country’s land and ocean under protected areas (IUCN categories + other national designations), latest available year (2023).

Source: UN SDG Global Database (UNEP-WCMC / Protected Planet)•172 countries

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Key Insights

Global Average

15.5%

Median: 14.9%

Countries Covered

172

with available data

Highest

Luxembourg

51.0%

Lowest

Libya

0.1%

Top 5 Countries

1Luxembourg51.0%

2Slovenia40.7%

3Zambia40.2%

4United Republic of Tanzania38.6%

5Argentina38.0%

By Region

Oceania25.9%(2 countries)

Europe22.9%(32 countries)

South America20.7%(7 countries)

North America14.6%(4 countries)

Other14.0%(94 countries)

Key Findings

•Protected area coverage varies dramatically across countries—from near-zero to very high shares.
•Small island and coastal states often show especially high marine protected-area coverage compared with large landlocked countries.
•High terrestrial protection does not necessarily imply high marine protection (and vice versa).
•Because designation is easier than effective enforcement, this indicator is best paired with measures of management effectiveness and biodiversity status.

Country Rankings

Top 10 Countries

Bottom 10 Countries

Data Analysis

Value Distribution

How countries are distributed across the value range

Low (0.1%)High (51.0%)

Regional Comparison

Average values by world region (Global avg: 15.5%)

Oceania (2)

Europe (32)

South America (7)

North America (4)

Other (94)

Africa (9)

Asia (24)

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

This statistic measures what share of each country’s terrestrial area and marine area is covered by legally designated protected areas, using the official SDG indicators 15.1.2 (terrestrial) and 14.5.1 (marine). It is a simple but powerful snapshot of how much space countries have formally set aside for biodiversity conservation—often revealing surprising leaders (many small island states protect very large portions of their waters) and laggards (countries with minimal formal protection).

Values come from the UN SDG Global Database (sourced from UNEP-WCMC / Protected Planet), which compiles nationally reported protected areas and harmonizes them with global standards. The indicator reflects legal designation and reported boundaries; it does not directly measure management effectiveness or ecological condition.

Full Data

Rank ↑	Country ↕	Value ↕
1	Luxembourg	51.0%
2	Slovenia	40.7%
3	Zambia	40.2%
4	United Republic of Tanzania	38.6%
5	Argentina	38.0%
6	Germany	37.8%
7	Spain	36.7%
8	Panama	35.4%
9	Poland	33.2%
10	New Zealand	32.0%
11	Montenegro	31.7%
12	Switzerland	30.8%
13	Brazil	29.4%
14	Bosnia and Herzegovina	28.7%
15	United Kingdom	28.6%
16	Botswana	28.5%
17	Costa Rica	28.2%
18	Belgium	28.0%
19	Azerbaijan	27.9%
20	France	27.6%
21	Vanuatu	27.4%
22	Zimbabwe	27.3%
23	Honduras	27.2%
24	Cuba	27.0%
25	Dominican Republic	26.8%
26	Cape Verde	26.6%
27	Netherlands	26.5%
28	Guinea	25.4%
29	Iceland	25.1%
30	Senegal	25.1%
31	Afghanistan	25.0%
32	Burkina Faso	24.6%
33	Fiji	24.3%
34	Austria	24.0%
35	Cayman Islands	23.9%
36	Tajikistan	23.8%
37	Belize	23.7%
38	Nepal	23.6%
39	Romania	23.3%
40	Slovakia	23.2%
41	Greece	22.6%
42	Portugal	22.4%
43	Hungary	22.1%
44	Italy	21.7%
45	Chile	21.3%
46	Ecuador	20.8%
47	Bahamas	20.6%
48	Japan	20.5%
49	Bermuda	20.5%
50	Barbados	20.0%
51	Australia	19.8%
52	Thailand	19.7%
53	Morocco	19.1%
54	Estonia	19.0%
55	Israel	18.9%
56	Central African Republic	18.7%
57	Albania	18.5%
58	People's Republic of China	18.2%
59	Bolivia	18.2%
60	Greenland	18.1%
61	Lithuania	18.1%
62	Cyprus	18.0%
63	Latvia	18.0%
64	South Korea	17.7%
65	Peru	17.7%
66	Nicaragua	17.4%
67	Norway	17.3%
68	Denmark	17.1%
69	Mexico	17.1%
70	Namibia	16.8%
71	Colombia	16.6%
72	Mozambique	16.6%
73	Seychelles	16.6%
74	Czech Republic	16.2%
75	Lao People's Democratic Republic	16.1%
76	Paraguay	16.0%
77	Sri Lanka	15.5%
78	Philippines	15.4%
79	Belarus	15.3%
80	Uganda	15.3%
81	Antigua and Barbuda	15.2%
82	Ethiopia	15.1%
83	Democratic Republic of the Congo	15.0%
84	Ghana	15.0%
85	Egypt	15.0%
86	Sweden	14.9%
87	Nigeria	14.8%
88	Guatemala	14.7%
89	Finland	14.6%
90	Ireland	14.4%
91	Niger	14.4%
92	Mongolia	14.0%
93	Venezuela	14.0%
94	New Caledonia	13.8%
95	Armenia	13.8%
96	Canada	13.7%
97	Indonesia	13.5%
98	Malaysia	13.5%
99	Kenya	13.4%
100	American Samoa	13.3%
101	Sierra Leone	13.2%
102	United States of America	13.0%
103	Dominica	12.9%
104	Cote d'Ivoire	12.8%
105	Croatia	12.7%
106	Russian Federation	12.1%
107	Pakistan	11.6%
108	Equatorial Guinea	11.5%
109	The Republic of North Macedonia	11.2%
110	Mali	11.1%
111	Türkiye	11.1%
112	Islamic Republic of Iran	11.0%
113	Malawi	11.0%
114	Bhutan	11.0%
115	Gabon	10.9%
116	Bulgaria	10.8%
117	Uzbekistan	10.5%
118	Rwanda	10.4%
119	Benin	10.2%
120	Kazakhstan	10.2%
121	Republic of the Congo	10.1%
122	Sudan	10.1%
123	Georgia	10.0%
124	South Africa	10.0%
125	South Sudan	8.7%
126	Jamaica	8.5%
127	Ukraine	8.4%
128	Republic of The Gambia	7.9%
129	Angola	7.9%
130	Serbia	7.7%
131	Cambodia	7.6%
132	Vietnam	7.6%
133	Cameroon	7.4%
134	Tunisia	7.3%
135	Mauritius	6.9%
136	Myanmar	6.6%
137	Bahrain	6.6%
138	Moldova, Republic of	6.4%
139	Solomon Islands	6.2%
140	North Korea	6.1%
141	Kyrgyzstan	6.0%
142	Singapore	5.4%
143	India	5.3%
144	Oman	5.2%
145	Bangladesh	4.8%
146	Jordan	4.6%
147	Suriname	4.2%
148	Madagascar	4.1%
149	Saudi Arabia	4.1%
150	Liberia	4.0%
151	Burundi	3.9%
152	Eswatini	3.9%
153	Comoros	3.8%
154	Iraq	3.1%
155	Qatar	2.8%
156	Lebanon	2.7%
157	Papua New Guinea	2.5%
158	Kuwait	2.4%
159	Eritrea	1.7%
160	El Salvador	1.6%
161	Chad	1.1%
162	Lesotho	1.1%
163	Mauritania	1.1%
164	Uruguay	1.0%
165	Yemen	1.0%
166	Somalia	0.8%
167	Algeria	0.4%
168	Haiti	0.3%
169	Brunei Darussalam	0.3%
170	Andorra	0.2%
171	Djibouti	0.1%
172	Libya	0.1%

Showing 172 of 172 countries

Topics

#statistic-of-the-day #ai-generated #protected areas #biodiversity #conservation #SDG14 #SDG15 #marine protection #terrestrial protection

Data Source

This data comes from UN SDG Global Database (UNEP-WCMC / Protected Planet) (2023).

View Original Source