Share of marine territorial waters that are protected in United States Virgin Islands
United States Virgin Islands: Share of marine territorial waters that are protected was 0.8% in 2025. ▲ Rising
Share of marine territorial waters that are protected in United States Virgin Islands, 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
United States Virgin Islands recorded 0.8% for share of marine territorial waters that are protected in 2025.
Compared with earlier readings it is unchanged over ten years.
Over the whole period, share of marine territorial waters that are protected in United States Virgin Islands peaked at 0.9% in 2016 and was at its lowest, 0.4%, in 2013.
That places United States Virgin Islands 106th 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 United States Virgin Islands, year by year
| Year | % of territorial waters | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2013 | 0.4% | — |
| 2014 | 0.8% | +100.0% |
| 2015 | 0.8% | +0.0% |
| 2016 | 0.9% | +12.5% |
| 2017 | 0.8% | -11.1% |
| 2018 | 0.9% | +12.5% |
| 2019 | 0.9% | +0.0% |
| 2020 | 0.5% | -44.4% |
| 2021 | 0.9% | +80.0% |
| 2022 | 0.9% | +0.0% |
| 2023 | 0.9% | +0.0% |
| 2024 | 0.8% | -11.1% |
| 2025 | 0.8% | +0.0% |
United States Virgin Islands compared with similar countries
- United States Virgin Islands's 0.8% is below the median for high income countries, which is 8.7%, 9% of the median. (75 countries reporting)
- United States Virgin Islands's 0.8% is below the median for Latin America & Caribbean, which is 2.0%, 41% of the median. (40 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Share of marine territorial waters that are protected in United States Virgin Islands 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 | +100.0% | 0.4% | 0.8% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010s | 0.8% | 0.4% | 0.9% | 7 |
| 2020s | 0.8% | 0.5% | 0.9% | 6 |
Countries ranked near United States Virgin Islands
More reference data data for United States Virgin Islands
- Emission Totals - Emissions (CO2eq) from CH4 (AR5) - Burning - Crop 0 (1992)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (CO2eq) (AR5) - IPCC Agriculture 0 (2019)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (CO2eq) from N2O (AR5) - IPCC Agriculture 0 (2019)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Burning - Crop residues 0 (1992)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (CO2eq) (AR5) - Burning - Crop residues 0 (1992)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 0 (2019)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (CO2eq) from N2O (AR5) - Burning - Crop 0 (1992)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (CH4) - IPCC Agriculture 0 (2019)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (CH4) - Burning - Crop residues 0 (1992)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (CO2eq) from CH4 (AR5) - IPCC Agriculture 0 (2019)
Frequently asked questions
- What is share of marine territorial waters that are protected in United States Virgin Islands?
- Share of marine territorial waters that are protected in United States Virgin Islands was 0.8% 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 United States Virgin Islands?
- The highest recorded value was 0.9% in 2016.
- What is the lowest share of marine territorial waters that are protected recorded in United States Virgin Islands?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.4% in 2013.
- How does United States Virgin Islands rank for share of marine territorial waters that are protected?
- United States Virgin Islands ranks 106th out of 174 countries with data for 2025.
- Is share of marine territorial waters that are protected rising or falling in United States Virgin Islands?
- Over the last ten years it is unchanged. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this United States Virgin Islands 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.