Marine protected areas in Australia
Australia: Marine protected areas was 45.4% in 2025. ▲ Rising
Marine protected areas in Australia, 2013–2025
Source: Protected Planet: The World Database on Protected Areas (WDPA) and World Database on Other Effective Area-based Conservation Measures (WD-OECM), UN Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring. Measured in % of territorial waters.
Analysis
In 2025, marine protected areas in Australia stood at 45.4%. That is the highest value across all 13 years on record.
That represents a change of up 5.1% over ten years.
Over the whole period, marine protected areas in Australia peaked at 45.4% in 2024 and was at its lowest, 40.6%, in 2017.
That places Australia 9th out of 174 countries with data for 2025, putting it in the top 10%.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 13 years of available data.
Marine protected areas in Australia, year by year
| Year | % of territorial waters | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2013 | 43.9% | — |
| 2014 | 44.0% | +0.2% |
| 2015 | 43.2% | -1.8% |
| 2016 | 40.7% | -5.8% |
| 2017 | 40.6% | -0.2% |
| 2018 | 40.6% | +0.0% |
| 2019 | 40.8% | +0.5% |
| 2020 | 40.8% | +0.0% |
| 2021 | 44.3% | +8.6% |
| 2022 | 44.3% | +0.0% |
| 2023 | 44.3% | +0.0% |
| 2024 | 45.4% | +2.5% |
| 2025 | 45.4% | +0.0% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010s | 42.0% | 40.6% | 44.0% | 7 |
| 2020s | 44.1% | 40.8% | 45.4% | 6 |
Countries ranked near Australia
More climate change data for Australia
- Emissions from livestock — Emissions (CO2eq) 118,578 kt (2050)
- Emissions from livestock — Emissions (CO2eq) from N2O 34,162 kt (2050)
- Emissions from livestock — Emissions (CO2eq) from CH4 84,416 kt (2050)
- Emissions from livestock — Emissions 128.91 kt (2050)
- Emissions from livestock — Emissions 3,015 kt (2050)
- Emissions from crops — Emissions (CO2eq) 12,473 kt (2050)
- Emissions from crops — Emissions (CO2eq) from N2O 10,966 kt (2050)
- Emissions from crops — Emissions (CO2eq) from CH4 1,507 kt (2050)
- Emissions from crops — Emissions 41.38 kt (2050)
- Emissions from crops — Emissions 53.82 kt (2050)
Frequently asked questions
- What is marine protected areas in Australia?
- Marine protected areas in Australia was 45.4% in 2025, according to Protected Planet: The World Database on Protected Areas (WDPA) and World Database on Other Effective Area-based Conservation Measures (WD-OECM), UN Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring.
- What is the highest marine protected areas recorded in Australia?
- The highest recorded value was 45.4% in 2024.
- What is the lowest marine protected areas recorded in Australia?
- The lowest recorded value was 40.6% in 2017.
- How does Australia rank for marine protected areas?
- Australia ranks 9th out of 174 countries with data for 2025.
- Is marine protected areas rising or falling in Australia?
- Over the last ten years it is up 5.1%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Australia data come from?
- The figures come from Protected Planet: The World Database on Protected Areas (WDPA) and World Database on Other Effective Area-based Conservation Measures (WD-OECM), UN Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring, published as part of Marine protected areas (% of territorial waters). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 13 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).
About this data
Marine protected areas are areas of intertidal or subtidal terrain--and overlying water and associated flora and fauna and historical and cultural features--that have been reserved by law or other effective means to protect part or all of the enclosed environment.