Share of marine territorial waters that are protected in Iceland
Iceland: Share of marine territorial waters that are protected was 0.5% in 2025. ▲ Rising
Share of marine territorial waters that are protected in Iceland, 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
Iceland recorded 0.5% for share of marine territorial waters that are protected in 2025. That is the highest value across all 13 years on record.
The figure is up 25.0% over ten years.
Over the whole period, share of marine territorial waters that are protected in Iceland peaked at 0.5% in 2024 and was at its lowest, 0.4%, in 2013.
That places Iceland 120th 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 Iceland, year by year
| Year | % of territorial waters | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2013 | 0.4% | — |
| 2014 | 0.4% | +0.0% |
| 2015 | 0.4% | +0.0% |
| 2016 | 0.4% | +0.0% |
| 2017 | 0.4% | +0.0% |
| 2018 | 0.4% | +0.0% |
| 2019 | 0.4% | +0.0% |
| 2020 | 0.4% | +0.0% |
| 2021 | 0.4% | +0.0% |
| 2022 | 0.4% | +0.0% |
| 2023 | 0.4% | +0.0% |
| 2024 | 0.5% | +25.0% |
| 2025 | 0.5% | +0.0% |
Iceland compared with similar countries
- Iceland's 0.5% is below the median for high income countries, which is 8.7%, 6% of the median. (75 countries reporting)
- Iceland's 0.5% is below the median for Europe & Central Asia, which is 11.0%, 5% of the median. (39 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010s | 0.4% | 0.4% | 0.4% | 7 |
| 2020s | 0.4% | 0.4% | 0.5% | 6 |
Countries ranked near Iceland
More reference data data for Iceland
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 0.0288 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 0.0708 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 0.1854 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 0.0001 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Agricultural Soils 0.1854 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 0.0964 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure Management 0.062 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 0.2576 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 0.7664 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 0.0005 (2050)
Frequently asked questions
- What is share of marine territorial waters that are protected in Iceland?
- Share of marine territorial waters that are protected in Iceland was 0.5% 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 Iceland?
- The highest recorded value was 0.5% in 2024.
- What is the lowest share of marine territorial waters that are protected recorded in Iceland?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.4% in 2013.
- How does Iceland rank for share of marine territorial waters that are protected?
- Iceland ranks 120th out of 174 countries with data for 2025.
- Is share of marine territorial waters that are protected rising or falling in Iceland?
- Over the last ten years it is up 25.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Iceland 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.