Share of marine territorial waters that are protected in Portugal
Portugal: Share of marine territorial waters that are protected was 16.9% in 2025. ▲ Rising
Share of marine territorial waters that are protected in Portugal, 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
The most recent figure for share of marine territorial waters that are protected in Portugal is 16.9%, measured in 2025. That is the highest value across all 13 years on record.
The figure is up 0.6% on the previous year and up 152.2% over ten years.
Over the whole period, share of marine territorial waters that are protected in Portugal peaked at 16.9% in 2022 and was at its lowest, 6.6%, in 2013.
That places Portugal 35th out of 174 countries with data for 2025, putting it 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 Portugal, year by year
| Year | % of territorial waters | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2013 | 6.6% | — |
| 2014 | 6.7% | +1.5% |
| 2015 | 6.7% | +0.0% |
| 2016 | 8.4% | +25.4% |
| 2017 | 16.2% | +92.9% |
| 2018 | 16.6% | +2.5% |
| 2019 | 16.6% | +0.0% |
| 2020 | 16.8% | +1.2% |
| 2021 | 16.8% | +0.0% |
| 2022 | 16.9% | +0.6% |
| 2023 | 16.9% | +0.0% |
| 2024 | 16.8% | -0.6% |
| 2025 | 16.9% | +0.6% |
Portugal compared with similar countries
- Portugal's 16.9% is above the median for high income countries, which is 8.7%, 1.9× the median. (75 countries reporting)
- Portugal's 16.9% is above the median for Europe & Central Asia, which is 11.0%, 1.5× the median. (39 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Share of marine territorial waters that are protected in Portugal 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | +92.9% | 8.4% | 16.2% |
| 2016 | +25.4% | 6.7% | 8.4% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010s | 11.1% | 6.6% | 16.6% | 7 |
| 2020s | 16.8% | 16.8% | 16.9% | 6 |
Countries ranked near Portugal
More reference data data for Portugal
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 0.5144 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 0.4372 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 1.51 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 0.0472 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Agricultural Soils 1.51 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 1.72 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure Management 1.02 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 1.81 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 6.9 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 0.2572 (2050)
Frequently asked questions
- What is share of marine territorial waters that are protected in Portugal?
- Share of marine territorial waters that are protected in Portugal was 16.9% 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 Portugal?
- The highest recorded value was 16.9% in 2022.
- What is the lowest share of marine territorial waters that are protected recorded in Portugal?
- The lowest recorded value was 6.6% in 2013.
- How does Portugal rank for share of marine territorial waters that are protected?
- Portugal ranks 35th out of 174 countries with data for 2025.
- Is share of marine territorial waters that are protected rising or falling in Portugal?
- Over the last ten years it is up 152.2%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Portugal 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.