Marine protected areas in Portugal
Portugal: Marine protected areas was 16.9% in 2025. ▲ Rising
Marine protected areas in Portugal, 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 Portugal stood at 16.9%. That is the highest value across all 13 years on record.
That represents a change of up 0.6% on the previous year and up 152.2% over ten years.
Over the whole period, marine protected areas in Portugal peaked at 16.9% in 2022 and was at its lowest, 6.6%, in 2013.
That places Portugal 35th out of 174 countries with data for 2025, putting it in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 13 years of available data.
Marine protected areas in Portugal, year by year
| Year | % of territorial waters | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2013 | 6.6% | — |
| 2014 | 6.7% | +1.5% |
| 2015 | 6.7% | +0.0% |
| 2016 | 8.4% | +25.4% |
| 2017 | 16.2% | +92.9% |
| 2018 | 16.6% | +2.5% |
| 2019 | 16.6% | +0.0% |
| 2020 | 16.8% | +1.2% |
| 2021 | 16.8% | +0.0% |
| 2022 | 16.9% | +0.6% |
| 2023 | 16.9% | +0.0% |
| 2024 | 16.8% | -0.6% |
| 2025 | 16.9% | +0.6% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010s | 11.1% | 6.6% | 16.6% | 7 |
| 2020s | 16.8% | 16.8% | 16.9% | 6 |
Countries ranked near Portugal
More climate change data for Portugal
- Emissions from livestock — Emissions (CO2eq) 5,543 kt (2050)
- Emissions from livestock — Emissions (CO2eq) from N2O 1,218 kt (2050)
- Emissions from livestock — Emissions (CO2eq) from CH4 4,325 kt (2050)
- Emissions from livestock — Emissions 4.6 kt (2050)
- Emissions from livestock — Emissions 154.46 kt (2050)
- Emissions from crops — Emissions (CO2eq) 950.54 kt (2050)
- Emissions from crops — Emissions (CO2eq) from N2O 585.76 kt (2050)
- Emissions from crops — Emissions (CO2eq) from CH4 364.79 kt (2050)
- Emissions from crops — Emissions 2.21 kt (2050)
- Emissions from crops — Emissions 13.03 kt (2050)
Frequently asked questions
- What is marine protected areas in Portugal?
- Marine protected areas in Portugal was 16.9% 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 Portugal?
- The highest recorded value was 16.9% in 2022.
- What is the lowest marine protected areas recorded in Portugal?
- The lowest recorded value was 6.6% in 2013.
- How does Portugal rank for marine protected areas?
- Portugal ranks 35th out of 174 countries with data for 2025.
- Is marine protected areas rising or falling in Portugal?
- Over the last ten years it is up 152.2%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Portugal 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.