Share of marine territorial waters that are protected in Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico: Share of marine territorial waters that are protected was 2.1% in 2025. ▲ Rising
Share of marine territorial waters that are protected in Puerto Rico, 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 Puerto Rico stood at 2.1%. That is the highest value across all 13 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is up 10.5% on the previous year and up 23.5% over ten years.
Over the whole period, share of marine territorial waters that are protected in Puerto Rico peaked at 2.1% in 2025 and was at its lowest, 0.2%, in 2013.
Puerto Rico ranks 88th 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 Puerto Rico, year by year
| Year | % of territorial waters | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2013 | 0.2% | — |
| 2014 | 1.7% | +750.0% |
| 2015 | 1.7% | +0.0% |
| 2016 | 1.7% | +0.0% |
| 2017 | 1.8% | +5.9% |
| 2018 | 1.7% | -5.6% |
| 2019 | 1.7% | +0.0% |
| 2020 | 1.8% | +5.9% |
| 2021 | 1.8% | +0.0% |
| 2022 | 1.8% | +0.0% |
| 2023 | 1.8% | +0.0% |
| 2024 | 1.9% | +5.6% |
| 2025 | 2.1% | +10.5% |
Puerto Rico compared with similar countries
- Puerto Rico's 2.1% is below the median for high income countries, which is 8.7%, 24% of the median. (75 countries reporting)
- Puerto Rico's 2.1% is above the median for Latin America & Caribbean, which is 2.0%, 1.1× the median. (40 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Share of marine territorial waters that are protected in Puerto Rico 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | +750.0% | 0.2% | 1.7% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010s | 1.5% | 0.2% | 1.8% | 7 |
| 2020s | 1.9% | 1.8% | 2.1% | 6 |
Countries ranked near Puerto Rico
More reference data data for Puerto Rico
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Agricultural Soils 0.2501 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 0.1709 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (CO2eq) from N2O (AR5) - Agricultural 326.76 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (CO2eq) from CH4 (AR5) - IPCC Agriculture 1,009 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (CO2eq) from CH4 (AR5) - Manure Management 34.71 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (CH4) - Burning - Crop residues 0.0011 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (CH4) - Enteric Fermentation 34.81 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (CH4) - IPCC Agriculture 36.05 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (CH4) - Manure Management 1.24 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (CO2eq) from N2O (AR5) - Burning - Crop 0.0077 (2050)
Frequently asked questions
- What is share of marine territorial waters that are protected in Puerto Rico?
- Share of marine territorial waters that are protected in Puerto Rico was 2.1% 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 Puerto Rico?
- The highest recorded value was 2.1% in 2025.
- What is the lowest share of marine territorial waters that are protected recorded in Puerto Rico?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.2% in 2013.
- How does Puerto Rico rank for share of marine territorial waters that are protected?
- Puerto Rico ranks 88th out of 174 countries with data for 2025.
- Is share of marine territorial waters that are protected rising or falling in Puerto Rico?
- Over the last ten years it is up 23.5%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Puerto Rico 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.