Marine protected areas in Netherlands
Netherlands: Marine protected areas was 33.5% in 2025. ▲ Rising
Marine protected areas in Netherlands, 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 Netherlands stood at 33.5%.
That represents a change of down 0.3% on the previous year and up 55.1% over ten years.
Over the whole period, marine protected areas in Netherlands peaked at 33.6% in 2024 and was at its lowest, 21.5%, in 2016.
That places Netherlands 14th 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 Netherlands, year by year
| Year | % of territorial waters | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2013 | 21.6% | — |
| 2014 | 21.6% | +0.0% |
| 2015 | 21.6% | +0.0% |
| 2016 | 21.5% | -0.5% |
| 2017 | 26.7% | +24.2% |
| 2018 | 26.7% | +0.0% |
| 2019 | 26.9% | +0.7% |
| 2020 | 26.9% | +0.0% |
| 2021 | 26.9% | +0.0% |
| 2022 | 26.9% | +0.0% |
| 2023 | 26.9% | +0.0% |
| 2024 | 33.6% | +24.9% |
| 2025 | 33.5% | -0.3% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010s | 23.8% | 21.5% | 26.9% | 7 |
| 2020s | 29.1% | 26.9% | 33.6% | 6 |
Countries ranked near Netherlands
- 11 Chile 41.2% compare
- 12 Colombia 41.1% compare
- 13 Belgium 38.3% compare
- 15 Seychelles 32.6% compare
- 16 Northern Mariana Islands 32.4% compare
- 17 New Zealand 30.4% compare
More climate change data for Netherlands
- Share co2 vs population 0.172 (2100)
- Urban population 95.9% (2025)
- Urban population 17.35 million (2025)
- Urban population growth 0.8% (2025)
- Population, total 18.09 million (2025)
- Population growth 0.5% (2025)
- Annual Net Emissions/Removals 137.95 (2024)
- Temperature change with respect to a baseline climatology 2.73 (2024)
- Per capita CO₂ emissions vs. per capita energy use 6.3 tonnes per person (2024)
- Share global cumulative co2 including land 0.4843 (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is marine protected areas in Netherlands?
- Marine protected areas in Netherlands was 33.5% 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 Netherlands?
- The highest recorded value was 33.6% in 2024.
- What is the lowest marine protected areas recorded in Netherlands?
- The lowest recorded value was 21.5% in 2016.
- How does Netherlands rank for marine protected areas?
- Netherlands ranks 14th out of 174 countries with data for 2025.
- Is marine protected areas rising or falling in Netherlands?
- Over the last ten years it is up 55.1%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Netherlands 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.