Marine protected areas in Sub-Saharan Africa (excluding high income)
Sub-Saharan Africa (excluding high income): Marine protected areas was 3.7% in 2025. ▲ Rising
Marine protected areas in Sub-Saharan Africa (excluding high income), 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
Sub-Saharan Africa (excluding high income) recorded 3.7% for marine protected areas in 2025. That is the highest value across all 13 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is up 1.7% on the previous year and up 42.1% over ten years.
Over the whole period, marine protected areas in Sub-Saharan Africa (excluding high income) peaked at 3.7% in 2025 and was at its lowest, 2.6%, in 2013.
Sub-Saharan Africa (excluding high income) ranks 33rd of 47 groups 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 Sub-Saharan Africa (excluding high income), year by year
| Year | % of territorial waters | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2013 | 2.6% | — |
| 2014 | 2.6% | +0.7% |
| 2015 | 2.6% | +0.7% |
| 2016 | 2.7% | +3.9% |
| 2017 | 3.4% | +23.3% |
| 2018 | 3.3% | -0.4% |
| 2019 | 3.5% | +4.0% |
| 2020 | 3.6% | +4.3% |
| 2021 | 3.7% | +0.8% |
| 2022 | 3.7% | -0.0% |
| 2023 | 3.7% | +0.0% |
| 2024 | 3.7% | +0.2% |
| 2025 | 3.7% | +1.7% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010s | 3.0% | 2.6% | 3.5% | 7 |
| 2020s | 3.7% | 3.6% | 3.7% | 6 |
Countries ranked near Sub-Saharan Africa (excluding high income)
More climate change data for Sub-Saharan Africa (excluding high income)
- Population growth 2.4% (2025)
- Population, total 1.32 billion (2025)
- Urban population growth 3.6% (2025)
- Urban population 590.18 million (2025)
- Urban population 44.7% (2025)
- Population in urban agglomerations of more than 1 million 16.3% (2025)
- Annual freshwater withdrawals, total 132.53 billion cubic meters (2022)
- Annual freshwater withdrawals, total 3.4% (2022)
- Terrestrial protected areas 17.3% (2025)
- Terrestrial and marine protected areas 13.3% (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is marine protected areas in Sub-Saharan Africa (excluding high income)?
- Marine protected areas in Sub-Saharan Africa (excluding high income) was 3.7% 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 Sub-Saharan Africa (excluding high income)?
- The highest recorded value was 3.7% in 2025.
- What is the lowest marine protected areas recorded in Sub-Saharan Africa (excluding high income)?
- The lowest recorded value was 2.6% in 2013.
- How does Sub-Saharan Africa (excluding high income) rank for marine protected areas?
- Sub-Saharan Africa (excluding high income) ranks 33rd out of 47 groups with data for 2025.
- Is marine protected areas rising or falling in Sub-Saharan Africa (excluding high income)?
- Over the last ten years it is up 42.1%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Sub-Saharan Africa (excluding high income) 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.
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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.