Share of marine territorial waters that are protected in Sweden
Sweden: Share of marine territorial waters that are protected was 16.1% in 2025. ▲ Rising
Share of marine territorial waters that are protected in Sweden, 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 Sweden is 16.1%, measured in 2025. That is the highest value across all 13 years on record.
That represents a change of up 0.6% on the previous year and up 101.2% over ten years.
Over the whole period, share of marine territorial waters that are protected in Sweden peaked at 16.1% in 2025 and was at its lowest, 7.0%, in 2013.
That places Sweden 38th 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 Sweden, year by year
| Year | % of territorial waters | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2013 | 7.0% | — |
| 2014 | 8.0% | +14.3% |
| 2015 | 8.0% | +0.0% |
| 2016 | 8.2% | +2.5% |
| 2017 | 15.2% | +85.4% |
| 2018 | 15.2% | +0.0% |
| 2019 | 15.4% | +1.3% |
| 2020 | 15.4% | +0.0% |
| 2021 | 15.8% | +2.6% |
| 2022 | 15.8% | +0.0% |
| 2023 | 15.8% | +0.0% |
| 2024 | 16.0% | +1.3% |
| 2025 | 16.1% | +0.6% |
Sweden compared with similar countries
- Sweden's 16.1% is above the median for high income countries, which is 8.7%, 1.9× the median. (75 countries reporting)
- Sweden's 16.1% 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 Sweden 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 | +85.4% | 8.2% | 15.2% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010s | 11.0% | 7.0% | 15.4% | 7 |
| 2020s | 15.8% | 15.4% | 16.1% | 6 |
Countries ranked near Sweden
More reference data data for Sweden
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 0.4328 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 0.2237 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 1.68 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 0.2063 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Agricultural Soils 1.68 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 1.45 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure Management 0.9766 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 1.13 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 8.03 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 1.12 (2050)
Frequently asked questions
- What is share of marine territorial waters that are protected in Sweden?
- Share of marine territorial waters that are protected in Sweden was 16.1% 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 Sweden?
- The highest recorded value was 16.1% in 2025.
- What is the lowest share of marine territorial waters that are protected recorded in Sweden?
- The lowest recorded value was 7.0% in 2013.
- How does Sweden rank for share of marine territorial waters that are protected?
- Sweden ranks 38th out of 174 countries with data for 2025.
- Is share of marine territorial waters that are protected rising or falling in Sweden?
- Over the last ten years it is up 101.2%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Sweden 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.