Share of land area that is protected in Jamaica
Jamaica: Share of land area that is protected was 19.9% in 2025. ▲ Rising
Share of land area that is protected in Jamaica, 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
Jamaica recorded 19.9% for share of land area that is protected in 2025.
That represents a change of up 25.2% over ten years.
Over the whole period, share of land area that is protected in Jamaica peaked at 20.0% in 2022 and was at its lowest, 15.9%, in 2013.
That places Jamaica 90th out of 213 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 land area that is protected in Jamaica, year by year
| Year | % of total land area | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2013 | 15.9% | — |
| 2014 | 15.9% | +0.0% |
| 2015 | 15.9% | +0.0% |
| 2016 | 15.9% | +0.0% |
| 2017 | 15.9% | +0.0% |
| 2018 | 15.9% | +0.0% |
| 2019 | 15.9% | +0.0% |
| 2020 | 15.9% | +0.0% |
| 2021 | 16.2% | +1.9% |
| 2022 | 20.0% | +23.5% |
| 2023 | 20.0% | +0.0% |
| 2024 | 19.9% | -0.5% |
| 2025 | 19.9% | +0.0% |
Jamaica compared with similar countries
- Jamaica's 19.9% is above the median for upper middle income countries, which is 15.6%, 1.3× the median. (58 countries reporting)
- Jamaica's 19.9% is above the median for Latin America & Caribbean, which is 17.7%, 1.1× the median. (42 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010s | 15.9% | 15.9% | 15.9% | 7 |
| 2020s | 18.6% | 15.9% | 20.0% | 6 |
Countries ranked near Jamaica
More reference data data for Jamaica
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 0.045 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 0.1808 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 0.2582 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 0.0003 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Agricultural Soils 0.2582 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 0.1508 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure Management 0.0583 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 0.8486 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 1.19 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 0.0015 (2050)
Frequently asked questions
- What is share of land area that is protected in Jamaica?
- Share of land area that is protected in Jamaica was 19.9% 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 land area that is protected recorded in Jamaica?
- The highest recorded value was 20.0% in 2022.
- What is the lowest share of land area that is protected recorded in Jamaica?
- The lowest recorded value was 15.9% in 2013.
- How does Jamaica rank for share of land area that is protected?
- Jamaica ranks 90th out of 213 countries with data for 2025.
- Is share of land area that is protected rising or falling in Jamaica?
- Over the last ten years it is up 25.2%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Jamaica 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.