Portugal vs Spain: Share of marine territorial waters that are protected

Portugal

16.9%

in 2025

Spain

19.0%

in 2025

Portugal rank

35th

Spain rank

32nd

Share of marine territorial waters that are protected over time

Portugal
Spain

How they compare

Spain currently reports 19.0% against 16.9% in Portugal, a difference of 2.1%.

That makes Spain's figure about 1.1 times Portugal's.

The two have swapped places 3 times across 13 shared years of data; in 2013 it was Portugal ahead.

Portugal ranks 35th and Spain ranks 32nd of 174 countries.

Individual pages

About this data

Indicator: Share of marine territorial waters that are protected
Unit: % of territorial waters
Source: Protected Planet WDPA and WD-OECM data, UNEP-WCMC and IUCN, via World Bank (2026) – processed by Our World in Data
Licence: CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage: 174 places, 2,223 data points, 2013–2025
Last refreshed: 07 August 2026

Marine protected areas are regions of intertidal or sub-tidal land and associated water, flora and fauna, and cultural and historical features that have been legally or effectively reserved for protection.