Protected land area in European Union (27)

Protected land area in the European Union (27) was 26.4% in 2023, according to Eurostat, European Commission. That is up 0.3 pts from 2022.

202326.4%

Change on 2022+0.3 pts

Series high26.42023

Series low24.62011

Next release: Thursday, 19 November 2026, estimated by Invokely from past publication dates (low confidence), not announced by the publisher. Release calendar

Protected land area in European Union (27), 2011 to 2023

%. Source: European Environment Agency protected area statistics (via Eurostat), Protected areas, terrestrial protected area, percentage of land area (env_bio4, source: EEA). Retrieved 2026-10-12, published 2025-11-19.

All 13 values

Period	%
2023	26.4
2022	26.1
2021	26.1
2020	26
2019	25.8
2018	25.6
2017	25.3
2016	25.3
2015	25.2
2014	25.1
2013	25
2012	24.6
2011	24.6

Rankings

EU countries by protected land area 27 places

Definition

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.

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.

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How to cite

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.

Citation styles

The publisher is the author. Invokely is named only as the place the figures were read, where a style asks for it.

APA 7

Eurostat, European Commission. (2025). Protected areas, terrestrial protected area, percentage of land area (env_bio4, source: EEA) (Protected land area, European Union (27), 2011 to 2023) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/env_bio4/default/table

MLA 9

Protected areas, terrestrial protected area, percentage of land area (env_bio4, source: EEA), Protected land area, European Union (27), 2011 to 2023. Eurostat, European Commission, 19 Nov. 2025, https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/env_bio4/default/table. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/en/protected-land-area/european-union. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

Eurostat, European Commission. 2025. Protected areas, terrestrial protected area, percentage of land area (env_bio4, source: EEA). Protected land area, European Union (27), 2011 to 2023. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/env_bio4/default/table. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/en/protected-land-area/european-union.

Harvard

Eurostat, European Commission (2025) Protected areas, terrestrial protected area, percentage of land area (env_bio4, source: EEA), Protected land area, European Union (27), 2011 to 2023 [Dataset]. Available at: https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/env_bio4/default/table, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/en/protected-land-area/european-union (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{eurostat_protected_land_area_european_2023,
  author = {{Eurostat, European Commission}},
  title = {{Protected areas, terrestrial protected area, percentage of land area (env\_bio4, source: EEA): Protected land area, European Union (27), 2011 to 2023}},
  year = {2025},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/env_bio4/default/table},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/en/protected-land-area/european-union. Publisher attribution: 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.},
}

RIS

TY  - DATA
AU  - Eurostat, European Commission
TI  - Protected areas, terrestrial protected area, percentage of land area (env_bio4, source: EEA): Protected land area, European Union (27), 2011 to 2023
PY  - 2025
DA  - 2025/11/19
PB  - Eurostat, European Commission
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/env_bio4/default/table
L2  - https://invokely.ai/en/protected-land-area/european-union
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/en/protected-land-area/european-union.
N1  - Publisher attribution: 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.
ER  -

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Questions

What is the protected land area in European Union (27)?

Protected land area in the European Union (27) was 26.4% in 2023, according to Eurostat, European Commission. That is up 0.3 pts from 2022.

Where does this figure come from?

Eurostat, European Commission. Protected areas, terrestrial protected area, percentage of land area (env_bio4, source: EEA). Retrieved by Invokely on 2026-10-12.

What was the highest protected land area in European Union (27)?

26.4% in 2023, the highest value since 2011 in this series.

Related statistics for European Union (27)

All statistics for European Union (27) | European Union (27) in figures