Share of land area that is protected in Malta
Malta: Share of land area that is protected was 29.0% in 2025. ▲ Rising
Share of land area that is protected in Malta, 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 Malta stood at 29.0%.
The figure is up 0.3% on the previous year and up 25.0% over ten years.
Over the whole period, share of land area that is protected in Malta peaked at 30.6% in 2020 and was at its lowest, 23.0%, in 2013.
That places Malta 41st out of 213 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 land area that is protected in Malta, year by year
| Year | % of total land area | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2013 | 23.0% | — |
| 2014 | 23.2% | +0.9% |
| 2015 | 23.2% | +0.0% |
| 2016 | 24.1% | +3.9% |
| 2017 | 30.3% | +25.7% |
| 2018 | 30.3% | +0.0% |
| 2019 | 30.2% | -0.3% |
| 2020 | 30.6% | +1.3% |
| 2021 | 30.6% | +0.0% |
| 2022 | 30.6% | +0.0% |
| 2023 | 30.6% | +0.0% |
| 2024 | 28.9% | -5.6% |
| 2025 | 29.0% | +0.3% |
Malta compared with similar countries
- Malta's 29.0% is above the median for high income countries, which is 21.5%, 1.3× the median. (83 countries reporting)
- Malta's 29.0% is above the median for Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan, which is 10.0%, 2.9× the median. (23 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Share of land area that is protected in Malta 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 | +25.7% | 24.1% | 30.3% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010s | 26.3% | 23.0% | 30.3% | 7 |
| 2020s | 30.1% | 28.9% | 30.6% | 6 |
Countries ranked near Malta
More reference data data for Malta
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 0.0121 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 0.0042 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 0.0205 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 0.0008 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Agricultural Soils 0.0205 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 0.0404 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure Management 0.0227 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 0.0192 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 0.1009 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 0.0043 (2050)
Frequently asked questions
- What is share of land area that is protected in Malta?
- Share of land area that is protected in Malta was 29.0% 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 Malta?
- The highest recorded value was 30.6% in 2020.
- What is the lowest share of land area that is protected recorded in Malta?
- The lowest recorded value was 23.0% in 2013.
- How does Malta rank for share of land area that is protected?
- Malta ranks 41st out of 213 countries with data for 2025.
- Is share of land area that is protected rising or falling in Malta?
- Over the last ten years it is up 25.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Malta 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.