# EU countries by protected land area, 2023

All 27 values come from Eurostat, European Commission for 2023, so the places are comparable.

- Indicator id: `terrestrial_protected_area_share`
- Unit: %
- 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.
- Source: Eurostat, European Commission, Protected areas, terrestrial protected area, percentage of land area (env_bio4, source: EEA) (https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/env_bio4/default/table)
- Publisher page: https://invokely.ai/en/publishers/eurostat
- Retrieved: 2026-10-12
- Citation: 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.
- Web page: https://invokely.ai/rankings/protected-land-area/eu-countries

| Rank | Place | % |
|---:|---|---:|
| 1 | Bulgaria | 44.2 |
| 2 | Slovenia | 40.5 |
| 3 | Poland | 39.6 |
| 4 | Germany | 39.1 |
| 5 | Luxembourg | 38.6 |
| 6 | Croatia | 38.2 |
| 7 | Cyprus | 37.5 |
| 8 | Slovakia | 37.4 |
| 9 | Greece | 34.6 |
| 10 | Austria | 29.3 |
| 11 | Malta | 28.7 |
| 12 | France | 28.3 |
| 13 | Spain | 28.1 |
| 14 | Netherlands | 26.5 |
| 15 | Romania | 23.5 |
| 16 | Portugal | 22.6 |
| 17 | Hungary | 22.2 |
| 18 | Czechia | 21.9 |
| 19 | Italy | 21.4 |
| 20 | Estonia | 21.3 |
| 21 | Latvia | 18.4 |
| 22 | Lithuania | 17.9 |
| 23 | Belgium | 15.5 |
| 24 | Denmark | 15.4 |
| 25 | Sweden | 15.3 |
| 26 | Ireland | 13.9 |
| 27 | Finland | 13.4 |