Share of marine territorial waters that are protected in Croatia

Croatia: Share of marine territorial waters that are protected was 9.3% in 2025. ▲ Rising

Latest (2025)
9.3%
Change on year
unchanged
World rank
51st
of 174 countries
All-time high
9.3%
in 2024
All-time low
2.0%
in 2013
Years of data
13
2013–2025

Share of marine territorial waters that are protected in Croatia, 2013–2025

2468102013201920252013: 2 % of territorial waters2014: 9.1 % of territorial waters2015: 9.1 % of territorial waters2016: 8.5 % of territorial waters2017: 8.5 % of territorial waters2018: 8.5 % of territorial waters2019: 8.5 % of territorial waters2020: 9 % of territorial waters2021: 9 % of territorial waters2022: 9 % of territorial waters2023: 9 % of territorial waters2024: 9.3 % of territorial waters2025: 9.3 % 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. Measured in % of territorial waters.

Analysis

The most recent figure for share of marine territorial waters that are protected in Croatia is 9.3%, measured in 2025. That is the highest value across all 13 years on record.

That represents a change of up 2.2% over ten years.

Over the whole period, share of marine territorial waters that are protected in Croatia peaked at 9.3% in 2024 and was at its lowest, 2.0%, in 2013.

That places Croatia 51st out of 174 countries with data for 2025, putting it in the middle of the range.

The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 13 years of available data.

Share of marine territorial waters that are protected in Croatia, year by year

Annual values for Share of marine territorial waters that are protected in Croatia, 2013 to 2025.
Year % of territorial waters Change
2013 2.0%
2014 9.1% +355.0%
2015 9.1% +0.0%
2016 8.5% -6.6%
2017 8.5% +0.0%
2018 8.5% +0.0%
2019 8.5% +0.0%
2020 9.0% +5.9%
2021 9.0% +0.0%
2022 9.0% +0.0%
2023 9.0% +0.0%
2024 9.3% +3.3%
2025 9.3% +0.0%

Croatia compared with similar countries

  • Croatia's 9.3% is above the median for high income countries, which is 8.7%, 1.1× the median. (75 countries reporting)
  • Croatia's 9.3% is below the median for Europe & Central Asia, which is 11.0%, 85% of the median. (39 countries reporting)

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
2010s 7.7% 2.0% 9.1% 7
2020s 9.1% 9.0% 9.3% 6

Countries ranked near Croatia

  1. 48 Cameroon 11.4% compare
  2. 49 Italy 11.0% compare
  3. 50 Isle of Man 10.8% compare
  4. 52 Canada 9.2% compare
  5. 53 Guinea-Bissau 9.1% compare
  6. 54 American Samoa 8.7% compare

See the full ranking of 174 places →

More reference data data for Croatia

All data for Croatia →

Frequently asked questions

What is share of marine territorial waters that are protected in Croatia?
Share of marine territorial waters that are protected in Croatia was 9.3% in 2025, according to Protected Planet WDPA and WD-OECM data, UNEP-WCMC and IUCN, via World Bank (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
What is the highest share of marine territorial waters that are protected recorded in Croatia?
The highest recorded value was 9.3% in 2024.
What is the lowest share of marine territorial waters that are protected recorded in Croatia?
The lowest recorded value was 2.0% in 2013.
How does Croatia rank for share of marine territorial waters that are protected?
Croatia ranks 51st out of 174 countries with data for 2025.
Is share of marine territorial waters that are protected rising or falling in Croatia?
Over the last ten years it is up 2.2%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
Where does this Croatia data come from?
The figures come from Protected Planet WDPA and WD-OECM data, UNEP-WCMC and IUCN, via World Bank (2026) – processed by Our World in Data, published as part of Share of marine territorial waters that are protected. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

Download this data

CSV · JSON — 13 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).

Share, cite or embed this page

Cite this page

Share of marine territorial waters that are protected in Croatia. Statizoid, drawing on Protected Planet WDPA and WD-OECM data, UNEP-WCMC and IUCN, via World Bank (2026) – processed by Our World in Data. Retrieved 22 September 2026, from https://reference.statizoid.com/stat/marine-protected-areas/croatia/

Embed or link this data

Paste this into a page to link back to these figures. The data itself is free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data); please keep the attribution.

<a href="https://reference.statizoid.com/stat/marine-protected-areas/croatia/">Share of marine territorial waters that are protected in Croatia</a> — Statizoid

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

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.