Marine protected areas in Sub-Saharan Africa
Sub-Saharan Africa: Marine protected areas was 7.1% in 2025. ▲ Rising
Marine protected areas in Sub-Saharan Africa, 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 Sub-Saharan Africa stood at 7.1%. That is the highest value across all 13 years on record.
That represents a change of up 0.8% on the previous year and up 208.3% over ten years.
Over the whole period, marine protected areas in Sub-Saharan Africa peaked at 7.1% in 2025 and was at its lowest, 2.3%, in 2013.
Sub-Saharan Africa ranks 23rd 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, year by year
| Year | % of territorial waters | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2013 | 2.3% | — |
| 2014 | 2.3% | +0.7% |
| 2015 | 2.3% | +0.7% |
| 2016 | 2.4% | +3.9% |
| 2017 | 2.9% | +23.3% |
| 2018 | 2.9% | -0.4% |
| 2019 | 4.9% | +67.2% |
| 2020 | 7.0% | +43.2% |
| 2021 | 7.0% | +0.4% |
| 2022 | 7.0% | -0.0% |
| 2023 | 7.0% | +0.0% |
| 2024 | 7.0% | -0.3% |
| 2025 | 7.1% | +0.8% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010s | 2.9% | 2.3% | 4.9% | 7 |
| 2020s | 7.0% | 7.0% | 7.1% | 6 |
Countries ranked near Sub-Saharan Africa
More climate change data for Sub-Saharan Africa
- Nutrient nitrogen N (total) — Indirect emissions (N2O that) 6.71 kt (2050)
- Nutrient nitrogen N (total) — Indirect emissions (N2O that leaches) 15.1 kt (2050)
- Nutrient nitrogen N (total) — Synthetic fertilizers 67.1 kt (2050)
- Nutrient nitrogen N (total) — Synthetic fertilizers 88.91 kt (2050)
- Nutrient nitrogen N (total) — Synthetic fertilizers 4.27 billion kg (2050)
- Nutrient nitrogen N (total) — Nitrogen fertilizer content applied 427.00 million kg (2050)
- Nutrient nitrogen N (total) — Nitrogen fertilizer content applied 1.28 billion kg (2050)
- All Crops — Burning crop residues 137.43 kt (2050)
- All Crops — Burning crop residues 3.56 kt (2050)
- All Crops — Burning crop residues 50.90 million t (2050)
Frequently asked questions
- What is marine protected areas in Sub-Saharan Africa?
- Marine protected areas in Sub-Saharan Africa was 7.1% 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?
- The highest recorded value was 7.1% in 2025.
- What is the lowest marine protected areas recorded in Sub-Saharan Africa?
- The lowest recorded value was 2.3% in 2013.
- How does Sub-Saharan Africa rank for marine protected areas?
- Sub-Saharan Africa ranks 23rd out of 47 groups with data for 2025.
- Is marine protected areas rising or falling in Sub-Saharan Africa?
- Over the last ten years it is up 208.3%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Sub-Saharan Africa 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.