Share of land area that is protected in Colombia
Colombia: Share of land area that is protected was 17.2% in 2025. ▼ Falling
Share of land area that is protected in Colombia, 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 total land area.
Analysis
In 2025, share of land area that is protected in Colombia stood at 17.2%.
That represents a change of up 1.2% on the previous year and up 23.7% over ten years.
Over the whole period, share of land area that is protected in Colombia peaked at 23.2% in 2014 and was at its lowest, 13.9%, in 2015.
Colombia ranks 104th of 213 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 13 years of available data.
Share of land area that is protected in Colombia, year by year
| Year | % of total land area | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2013 | 23.1% | — |
| 2014 | 23.2% | +0.4% |
| 2015 | 13.9% | -40.1% |
| 2016 | 14.2% | +2.2% |
| 2017 | 14.2% | +0.0% |
| 2018 | 14.8% | +4.2% |
| 2019 | 14.8% | +0.0% |
| 2020 | 16.9% | +14.2% |
| 2021 | 16.9% | +0.0% |
| 2022 | 16.4% | -3.0% |
| 2023 | 16.4% | +0.0% |
| 2024 | 17.0% | +3.7% |
| 2025 | 17.2% | +1.2% |
Colombia compared with similar countries
- Colombia's 17.2% is above the median for upper middle income countries, which is 15.6%, 1.1× the median. (58 countries reporting)
- Colombia's 17.2% is below the median for Latin America & Caribbean, which is 17.7%, 97% of the median. (42 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Share of land area that is protected in Colombia 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | -40.1% | 23.2% | 13.9% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010s | 16.9% | 13.9% | 23.2% | 7 |
| 2020s | 16.8% | 16.4% | 17.2% | 6 |
Countries ranked near Colombia
More reference data data for Colombia
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 2.92 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 11.17 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 19.02 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 0.4113 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Agricultural Soils 19.02 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 9.81 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure Management 2.67 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 61.25 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 94.56 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 2.24 (2050)
Frequently asked questions
- What is share of land area that is protected in Colombia?
- Share of land area that is protected in Colombia was 17.2% 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 land area that is protected recorded in Colombia?
- The highest recorded value was 23.2% in 2014.
- What is the lowest share of land area that is protected recorded in Colombia?
- The lowest recorded value was 13.9% in 2015.
- How does Colombia rank for share of land area that is protected?
- Colombia ranks 104th out of 213 countries with data for 2025.
- Is share of land area that is protected rising or falling in Colombia?
- Over the last ten years it is up 23.7%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Colombia 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 land area that is 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
Terrestrial protected areas are areas of at least 1,000 hectares that are designated by national authorities in order to preserve their ecosystem services and cultural values.