Share of marine territorial waters that are protected in Italy
Italy: Share of marine territorial waters that are protected was 11.0% in 2025. ▲ Rising
Share of marine territorial waters that are protected in Italy, 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
Italy recorded 11.0% for share of marine territorial waters that are protected in 2025. That is the highest value across all 13 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is up 2.8% on the previous year and up 96.4% over ten years.
Over the whole period, share of marine territorial waters that are protected in Italy peaked at 11.0% in 2025 and was at its lowest, 5.5%, in 2013.
Italy ranks 49th of 174 countries on this measure, 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 Italy, year by year
| Year | % of territorial waters | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2013 | 5.5% | — |
| 2014 | 5.6% | +1.8% |
| 2015 | 5.6% | +0.0% |
| 2016 | 8.8% | +57.1% |
| 2017 | 8.8% | +0.0% |
| 2018 | 8.8% | +0.0% |
| 2019 | 8.8% | +0.0% |
| 2020 | 9.7% | +10.2% |
| 2021 | 10.6% | +9.3% |
| 2022 | 10.6% | +0.0% |
| 2023 | 10.6% | +0.0% |
| 2024 | 10.7% | +0.9% |
| 2025 | 11.0% | +2.8% |
Italy compared with similar countries
- Italy's 11.0% is above the median for high income countries, which is 8.7%, 1.3× the median. (75 countries reporting)
- Italy's 11.0% is above the median for Europe & Central Asia, which is 11.0%, 1.0× the median. (39 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Share of marine territorial waters that are protected in Italy changed far more than this series normally does. A large move can be a real event or a change in how the figure was measured — the source note below says who published it.
| Year | Change | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | +57.1% | 5.6% | 8.8% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010s | 7.4% | 5.5% | 8.8% | 7 |
| 2020s | 10.5% | 9.7% | 11.0% | 6 |
Countries ranked near Italy
More reference data data for Italy
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 2.5 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 1.48 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 8.94 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 0.927 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Agricultural Soils 8.94 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 8.37 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure Management 5.21 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 6.51 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 41.74 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 5.05 (2050)
Frequently asked questions
- What is share of marine territorial waters that are protected in Italy?
- Share of marine territorial waters that are protected in Italy was 11.0% 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 Italy?
- The highest recorded value was 11.0% in 2025.
- What is the lowest share of marine territorial waters that are protected recorded in Italy?
- The lowest recorded value was 5.5% in 2013.
- How does Italy rank for share of marine territorial waters that are protected?
- Italy ranks 49th out of 174 countries with data for 2025.
- Is share of marine territorial waters that are protected rising or falling in Italy?
- Over the last ten years it is up 96.4%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Italy 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.