Share of land area that is protected in Laos

Laos: Share of land area that is protected was 18.8% in 2025. ▲ Rising

Latest (2025)
18.8%
Change on year
unchanged
World rank
95th
of 213 countries
All-time high
19.0%
in 2023
All-time low
16.7%
in 2013
Years of data
13
2013–2025

Share of land area that is protected in Laos, 2013–2025

051015202013201920252013: 16.7 % of total land area2014: 16.7 % of total land area2015: 16.7 % of total land area2016: 16.7 % of total land area2017: 16.7 % of total land area2018: 16.7 % of total land area2019: 16.7 % of total land area2020: 18.7 % of total land area2021: 18.7 % of total land area2022: 18.7 % of total land area2023: 19 % of total land area2024: 18.8 % of total land area2025: 18.8 % of total land area

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

Laos recorded 18.8% for share of land area that is protected in 2025.

That represents a change of up 12.6% over ten years.

Over the whole period, share of land area that is protected in Laos peaked at 19.0% in 2023 and was at its lowest, 16.7%, in 2013.

Laos ranks 95th of 213 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.

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
2010s 16.7% 16.7% 16.7% 7
2020s 18.8% 18.7% 19.0% 6

Countries ranked near Laos

  1. 92 United Arab Emirates 19.2% compare
  2. 93 Pakistan 19.1% compare
  3. 94 Equatorial Guinea 19.0% compare
  4. 95 Latvia 18.8% compare
  5. 97 Saudi Arabia 18.5% compare
  6. 98 Thailand 18.4% compare

See the full ranking of 213 places →

More reference data data for Laos

All data for Laos →

Frequently asked questions

What is share of land area that is protected in Laos?
Share of land area that is protected in Laos was 18.8% 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 land area that is protected recorded in Laos?
The highest recorded value was 19.0% in 2023.
What is the lowest share of land area that is protected recorded in Laos?
The lowest recorded value was 16.7% in 2013.
How does Laos rank for share of land area that is protected?
Laos ranks 95th out of 213 countries with data for 2025.
Is share of land area that is protected rising or falling in Laos?
Over the last ten years it is up 12.6%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
Where does this Laos 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

Indicator
Share of land area that is protected
Unit
% of total land area
Source
Protected Planet WDPA and WD-OECM data, UNEP-WCMC and IUCN, via World Bank (2026) – processed by Our World in Data
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
213 places, 2,746 data points, 2013–2025
Last refreshed

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.