EU countries by protected land area

Bulgaria had the highest protected land area of 27 EU countries in 2012, at 40.4%. Croatia had the lowest, at 12.3%. The median was 22% and the figure for the European Union (27) was 24.6%. Source: Eurostat, European Commission.

Highest40.4Bulgaria

Lowest12.3Croatia

Median2227 EU countries

European Union (27)24.6History

Map of EU countries, 2012

Under 16
16 to 20
20 to 23
23 to 33
33 and over

%, 2012. Source: European Environment Agency protected area statistics (via Eurostat), Protected areas, terrestrial protected area, percentage of land area (env_bio4, source: EEA). Boundaries: Natural Earth (public domain).

All EU countries, 2012

%. 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.

Full ranking

Rank	EU countries	2012 (%)	Change on 2011
1	Bulgaria	40.4	0 pts
2	Slovenia	40.2	0 pts
3	Poland	39.5	0 pts
4	Germany	37.3	+0.2 pts
5	Slovakia	37.1	0 pts
6	Greece	34.6	0 pts
7	Malta	28.4	+3 pts
8	Spain	28	0 pts
9	Austria	27.9	+0.4 pts
10	Luxembourg	25.2	0 pts
11	Romania	23.2	0 pts
12	France	23.1	+0.1 pts
13	Hungary	22.2	0 pts
14	Portugal	22	0 pts
15	Czechia	21.4	0 pts
15	Italy	21.4	+0.1 pts
17	Estonia	19.6	0 pts
18	Latvia	18.1	0 pts
19	Cyprus	17.4	0 pts
20	Lithuania	17	0 pts
20	Netherlands	17	0 pts
22	Denmark	15.2	0 pts
23	Belgium	14.3	+0.1 pts
24	Sweden	14.1	+0.1 pts
25	Ireland	13.8	0 pts
26	Finland	13	+0.1 pts
27	Croatia	12.3	0 pts

Other periods

About this ranking

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.

Every value in the ranking comes from the same publisher and the same period, so the EU countries are compared on one definition. Equal values share a rank.

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) (EU countries by protected land area, 2012) [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), EU countries by protected land area, 2012. Eurostat, European Commission, 19 Nov. 2025, https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/env_bio4/default/table. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/protected-land-area/eu-countries?period=2012. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

Eurostat, European Commission. 2025. Protected areas, terrestrial protected area, percentage of land area (env_bio4, source: EEA). EU countries by protected land area, 2012. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/env_bio4/default/table. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/protected-land-area/eu-countries?period=2012.

Harvard

Eurostat, European Commission (2025) Protected areas, terrestrial protected area, percentage of land area (env_bio4, source: EEA), EU countries by protected land area, 2012 [Dataset]. Available at: https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/env_bio4/default/table, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/protected-land-area/eu-countries?period=2012 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{eurostat_eu_countries_by_protected_2012,
  author = {{Eurostat, European Commission}},
  title = {{Protected areas, terrestrial protected area, percentage of land area (env\_bio4, source: EEA): EU countries by protected land area, 2012}},
  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/rankings/protected-land-area/eu-countries?period=2012. 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): EU countries by protected land area, 2012
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/rankings/protected-land-area/eu-countries?period=2012
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/protected-land-area/eu-countries?period=2012.
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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Rank EU countries by protected land area using official data, and cite the source.

rank_places {"indicator":"terrestrial_protected_area_share","level":"country","within":"European Union (27)","limit":10}
GET https://invokely.ai/api/v1/rank?indicator=terrestrial_protected_area_share&level=country&within=European%20Union%20(27)&limit=10

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Questions

Which EU country has the highest protected land area?

Bulgaria, with 40.4% in 2012, according to Eurostat, European Commission.

Which EU country has the lowest protected land area?

Croatia, with 12.3% in 2012.

Where does this ranking come from?

Every value comes from one source and one period, so the places are comparable: Eurostat, European Commission, Protected areas, terrestrial protected area, percentage of land area (env_bio4, source: EEA). Retrieved 2026-10-12.