Share of marine territorial waters that are protected in Ecuador
Ecuador: Share of marine territorial waters that are protected was 19.3% in 2025. ▲ Rising
Share of marine territorial waters that are protected in Ecuador, 2013–2025
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
In 2025, share of marine territorial waters that are protected in Ecuador stood at 19.3%. That is the highest value across all 13 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is up 47.3% over ten years.
Over the whole period, share of marine territorial waters that are protected in Ecuador peaked at 19.3% in 2024 and was at its lowest, 13.0%, in 2013.
Ecuador ranks 30th of 174 countries on this measure, in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 13 years of available data.
Share of marine territorial waters that are protected in Ecuador, year by year
| Year | % of territorial waters | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2013 | 13.0% | — |
| 2014 | 13.0% | +0.0% |
| 2015 | 13.1% | +0.8% |
| 2016 | 13.1% | +0.0% |
| 2017 | 13.1% | +0.0% |
| 2018 | 13.3% | +1.5% |
| 2019 | 13.3% | +0.0% |
| 2020 | 13.3% | +0.0% |
| 2021 | 13.3% | +0.0% |
| 2022 | 19.1% | +43.6% |
| 2023 | 19.1% | +0.0% |
| 2024 | 19.3% | +1.0% |
| 2025 | 19.3% | +0.0% |
Ecuador compared with similar countries
- Ecuador's 19.3% is above the median for upper middle income countries, which is 0.9%, 20.3× the median. (50 countries reporting)
- Ecuador's 19.3% is above the median for Latin America & Caribbean, which is 2.0%, 9.9× the median. (40 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010s | 13.1% | 13.0% | 13.3% | 7 |
| 2020s | 17.2% | 13.3% | 19.3% | 6 |
Countries ranked near Ecuador
More reference data data for Ecuador
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 0.9379 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 2.51 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 4.74 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 0.1826 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Agricultural Soils 4.74 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 3.14 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure Management 1.18 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 13.63 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 23.57 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 0.9943 (2050)
Frequently asked questions
- What is share of marine territorial waters that are protected in Ecuador?
- Share of marine territorial waters that are protected in Ecuador was 19.3% 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 Ecuador?
- The highest recorded value was 19.3% in 2024.
- What is the lowest share of marine territorial waters that are protected recorded in Ecuador?
- The lowest recorded value was 13.0% in 2013.
- How does Ecuador rank for share of marine territorial waters that are protected?
- Ecuador ranks 30th out of 174 countries with data for 2025.
- Is share of marine territorial waters that are protected rising or falling in Ecuador?
- Over the last ten years it is up 47.3%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Ecuador 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).
About this data
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.