Marine protected areas in Upper middle income
Upper middle income: Marine protected areas was 8.6% in 2025. ▲ Rising
Marine protected areas in Upper middle 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
In 2025, marine protected areas in Upper middle income stood at 8.6%. That is the highest value across all 13 years on record.
That represents a change of up 279.6% over ten years.
Over the whole period, marine protected areas in Upper middle income peaked at 8.6% in 2025 and was at its lowest, 2.3%, in 2015.
Upper middle income ranks 16th of 45 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 Upper middle income, year by year
| Year | % of territorial waters | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2013 | 2.4% | — |
| 2014 | 2.4% | +1.9% |
| 2015 | 2.3% | -6.5% |
| 2016 | 4.1% | +79.0% |
| 2017 | 4.4% | +7.6% |
| 2018 | 7.1% | +62.2% |
| 2019 | 7.4% | +4.6% |
| 2020 | 7.7% | +3.3% |
| 2021 | 7.8% | +1.1% |
| 2022 | 8.1% | +4.3% |
| 2023 | 8.1% | +0.0% |
| 2024 | 8.6% | +6.6% |
| 2025 | 8.6% | +0.0% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010s | 4.3% | 2.3% | 7.4% | 7 |
| 2020s | 8.2% | 7.7% | 8.6% | 6 |
Countries ranked near Upper middle income
- 13 Belgium 38.3% compare
- 14 Netherlands 33.5% compare
- 15 Seychelles 32.6% compare
- 16 Northern Mariana Islands 32.4% compare
- 17 New Zealand 30.4% compare
- 18 Costa Rica 28.4% compare
- 19 Denmark 27.1% compare
More climate change data for Upper middle income
- Population growth 0.3% (2025)
- Population, total 3.08 billion (2025)
- Urban population growth 0.9% (2025)
- Urban population 2.10 billion (2025)
- Urban population 68.2% (2025)
- Population in urban agglomerations of more than 1 million 30.0% (2025)
- Annual freshwater withdrawals, total 1,646 billion cubic meters (2022)
- Annual freshwater withdrawals, total 8.9% (2022)
- Terrestrial protected areas 16.2% (2025)
- Terrestrial and marine protected areas 12.8% (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is marine protected areas in Upper middle income?
- Marine protected areas in Upper middle income was 8.6% 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 Upper middle income?
- The highest recorded value was 8.6% in 2025.
- What is the lowest marine protected areas recorded in Upper middle income?
- The lowest recorded value was 2.3% in 2015.
- How does Upper middle income rank for marine protected areas?
- Upper middle income ranks 16th out of 45 groups with data for 2025.
- Is marine protected areas rising or falling in Upper middle income?
- Over the last ten years it is up 279.6%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Upper middle 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.
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.