# Protected land area

Land in Natura 2000 sites or in areas protected under national law, as a percentage of the country's land area at the end of the year. Areas covered by both designations are counted once.

## Key facts

- Protected land area in the European Union (27) was 26.4% in 2023, according to Eurostat, European Commission.
- Bulgaria had the highest protected land area of 27 EU countries in 2023, at 44.2%, and Finland the lowest, at 13.4%. Source: Eurostat, European Commission.
- Published for 28 places, with figures from 2011 to 2023.
- Figures last updated on 2026-10-12.

- Indicator id: `terrestrial_protected_area_share`
- Unit: %
- Note: Calculated by the European Environment Agency from the sites Member States report. France covers metropolitan France only and Cyprus the government-controlled area. Large one-year rises usually follow a new batch of designations, such as Croatia's Natura 2000 network on joining the EU in 2013. The EU biodiversity strategy aims for 30% by 2030.
- Web page: https://invokely.ai/en/protected-land-area
- API: https://invokely.ai/api/v1/indicators/terrestrial_protected_area_share

## Latest figures

| Place | Period | % | Source |
|---|---|---:|---|
| European Union (27) | 2023 | 26.4 | European Environment Agency (EEA), surface of terrestrial protected areas from the Natura 2000 and nationally designated areas datasets, as published by Eurostat. Protected areas, terrestrial protected area, percentage of land area (env_bio4, source: EEA). https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/env_bio4/default/table. Retrieved 2026-10-12. Licensed under CC BY 4.0. |

## Rankings

- [EU countries](https://invokely.ai/rankings/protected-land-area/eu-countries.md) (27 places)