Marine protected areas in World
World: Marine protected areas was 17.5% in 2025. ▲ Rising
Marine protected areas in World, 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
World recorded 17.5% for marine protected areas in 2025. That is the highest value across all 13 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is up 24.6% on the previous year and up 93.9% over ten years.
Over the whole period, marine protected areas in World peaked at 17.5% in 2025 and was at its lowest, 6.8%, in 2013.
That places World 9th out of 45 groups 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 World, year by year
| Year | % of territorial waters | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2013 | 6.8% | — |
| 2014 | 8.3% | +21.5% |
| 2015 | 9.0% | +8.6% |
| 2016 | 11.4% | +26.6% |
| 2017 | 11.7% | +2.8% |
| 2018 | 13.2% | +12.7% |
| 2019 | 13.9% | +5.1% |
| 2020 | 14.2% | +2.4% |
| 2021 | 13.5% | -5.3% |
| 2022 | 13.7% | +1.8% |
| 2023 | 13.7% | -0.2% |
| 2024 | 14.0% | +2.4% |
| 2025 | 17.5% | +24.6% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010s | 10.6% | 6.8% | 13.9% | 7 |
| 2020s | 14.4% | 13.5% | 17.5% | 6 |
Countries ranked near World
More climate change data for World
- Emissions from livestock — Emissions (CO2eq) 4.94 million kt (2050)
- Emissions from livestock — Emissions (CO2eq) from N2O 1.27 million kt (2050)
- Emissions from livestock — Emissions (CO2eq) from CH4 3.67 million kt (2050)
- Emissions from livestock — Emissions 4,791 kt (2050)
- Emissions from livestock — Emissions 130,918 kt (2050)
- Emissions from crops — Emissions (CO2eq) 1.64 million kt (2050)
- Emissions from crops — Emissions (CO2eq) from N2O 957,726 kt (2050)
- Emissions from crops — Emissions (CO2eq) from CH4 685,096 kt (2050)
- Emissions from crops — Emissions 3,614 kt (2050)
- Emissions from crops — Emissions 24,468 kt (2050)
Frequently asked questions
- What is marine protected areas in World?
- Marine protected areas in World was 17.5% 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 World?
- The highest recorded value was 17.5% in 2025.
- What is the lowest marine protected areas recorded in World?
- The lowest recorded value was 6.8% in 2013.
- How does World rank for marine protected areas?
- World ranks 9th out of 45 groups with data for 2025.
- Is marine protected areas rising or falling in World?
- Over the last ten years it is up 93.9%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this World 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.