Marine protected areas in North America
North America: Marine protected areas was 14.6% in 2025. ▲ Rising
Marine protected areas in North America, 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
The most recent figure for marine protected areas in North America is 14.6%, measured in 2025.
That represents a change of down 11.3% over ten years.
Over the whole period, marine protected areas in North America peaked at 25.2% in 2020 and was at its lowest, 6.6%, in 2014.
North America ranks 11th of 45 groups on this measure, in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 13 years of available data.
Marine protected areas in North America, year by year
| Year | % of territorial waters | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2013 | 8.1% | — |
| 2014 | 6.6% | -18.1% |
| 2015 | 16.5% | +149.7% |
| 2016 | 24.3% | +47.4% |
| 2017 | 24.2% | -0.2% |
| 2018 | 25.1% | +3.4% |
| 2019 | 25.2% | +0.3% |
| 2020 | 25.2% | +0.2% |
| 2021 | 14.5% | -42.4% |
| 2022 | 14.6% | +0.5% |
| 2023 | 14.6% | +0.4% |
| 2024 | 14.6% | -0.1% |
| 2025 | 14.6% | +0.0% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010s | 18.6% | 6.6% | 25.2% | 7 |
| 2020s | 16.4% | 14.5% | 25.2% | 6 |
Countries ranked near North America
More climate change data for North America
- Population growth 0.6% (2025)
- Population, total 383.50 million (2025)
- Urban population growth 0.7% (2025)
- Urban population 308.67 million (2025)
- Urban population 80.5% (2025)
- Annual Net Emissions/Removals 6,870 (2024)
- Population in urban agglomerations of more than 1 million 46.7% (2025)
- Annual freshwater withdrawals, total 480.42 billion cubic meters (2022)
- Annual freshwater withdrawals, total 8.5% (2022)
- Terrestrial protected areas 12.9% (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is marine protected areas in North America?
- Marine protected areas in North America was 14.6% 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 North America?
- The highest recorded value was 25.2% in 2020.
- What is the lowest marine protected areas recorded in North America?
- The lowest recorded value was 6.6% in 2014.
- How does North America rank for marine protected areas?
- North America ranks 11th out of 45 groups with data for 2025.
- Is marine protected areas rising or falling in North America?
- Over the last ten years it is down 11.3%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this North America 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.