Marine protected areas in Iceland
Iceland: Marine protected areas was 0.5% in 2025. ▲ Rising
Marine protected areas in Iceland, 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 Iceland stood at 0.5%. That is the highest value across all 13 years on record.
That represents a change of up 25.0% over ten years.
Over the whole period, marine protected areas in Iceland peaked at 0.5% in 2024 and was at its lowest, 0.4%, in 2013.
Iceland ranks 120th of 174 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 13 years of available data.
Marine protected areas in Iceland, year by year
| Year | % of territorial waters | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2013 | 0.4% | — |
| 2014 | 0.4% | +0.0% |
| 2015 | 0.4% | +0.0% |
| 2016 | 0.4% | +0.0% |
| 2017 | 0.4% | +0.0% |
| 2018 | 0.4% | +0.0% |
| 2019 | 0.4% | +0.0% |
| 2020 | 0.4% | +0.0% |
| 2021 | 0.4% | +0.0% |
| 2022 | 0.4% | +0.0% |
| 2023 | 0.4% | +0.0% |
| 2024 | 0.5% | +25.0% |
| 2025 | 0.5% | +0.0% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010s | 0.4% | 0.4% | 0.4% | 7 |
| 2020s | 0.4% | 0.4% | 0.5% | 6 |
Countries ranked near Iceland
More climate change data for Iceland
- Emissions from livestock — Emissions (CO2eq) 462.45 kt (2050)
- Emissions from livestock — Emissions (CO2eq) from N2O 110.24 kt (2050)
- Emissions from livestock — Emissions (CO2eq) from CH4 352.21 kt (2050)
- Emissions from livestock — Emissions 0.416 kt (2050)
- Emissions from livestock — Emissions 12.58 kt (2050)
- Emissions from crops — Emissions (CO2eq) 92.86 kt (2050)
- Emissions from crops — Emissions (CO2eq) from N2O 92.86 kt (2050)
- Emissions from crops — Emissions 0.3504 kt (2050)
- Synthetic Fertilizers — Emissions (CO2eq) 92.72 kt (2050)
- Synthetic Fertilizers — Emissions (CO2eq) from N2O 92.72 kt (2050)
Frequently asked questions
- What is marine protected areas in Iceland?
- Marine protected areas in Iceland was 0.5% 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 Iceland?
- The highest recorded value was 0.5% in 2024.
- What is the lowest marine protected areas recorded in Iceland?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.4% in 2013.
- How does Iceland rank for marine protected areas?
- Iceland ranks 120th out of 174 countries with data for 2025.
- Is marine protected areas rising or falling in Iceland?
- Over the last ten years it is up 25.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Iceland 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.