Share of land area that is protected in North Macedonia
North Macedonia: Share of land area that is protected was 29.0% in 2025. ▲ Rising
Share of land area that is protected in North Macedonia, 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 North Macedonia stood at 29.0%. That is the highest value across all 13 years on record.
The figure is up 2.8% on the previous year and up 199.0% over ten years.
Over the whole period, share of land area that is protected in North Macedonia peaked at 29.0% in 2025 and was at its lowest, 9.0%, in 2020.
North Macedonia ranks 41st of 213 countries on this measure, 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 North Macedonia, year by year
| Year | % of total land area | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2013 | 9.7% | — |
| 2014 | 9.7% | +0.0% |
| 2015 | 9.7% | +0.0% |
| 2016 | 9.7% | +0.0% |
| 2017 | 9.7% | +0.0% |
| 2018 | 9.7% | +0.0% |
| 2019 | 10.6% | +9.3% |
| 2020 | 9.0% | -15.1% |
| 2021 | 12.5% | +38.9% |
| 2022 | 15.4% | +23.2% |
| 2023 | 15.4% | +0.0% |
| 2024 | 28.2% | +83.1% |
| 2025 | 29.0% | +2.8% |
North Macedonia compared with similar countries
- North Macedonia's 29.0% is above the median for upper middle income countries, which is 15.6%, 1.9× the median. (58 countries reporting)
- North Macedonia's 29.0% is above the median for Europe & Central Asia, which is 22.1%, 1.3× the median. (55 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Share of land area that is protected in North Macedonia 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | +83.1% | 15.4% | 28.2% |
| 2021 | +38.9% | 9.0% | 12.5% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010s | 9.8% | 9.7% | 10.6% | 7 |
| 2020s | 18.2% | 9.0% | 29.0% | 6 |
Countries ranked near North Macedonia
More reference data data for North Macedonia
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 0.102 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 0.1665 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 0.4328 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 0.0308 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Agricultural Soils 0.4328 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 0.342 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure Management 0.224 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 0.6296 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 1.91 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 0.168 (2050)
Frequently asked questions
- What is share of land area that is protected in North Macedonia?
- Share of land area that is protected in North Macedonia 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 North Macedonia?
- The highest recorded value was 29.0% in 2025.
- What is the lowest share of land area that is protected recorded in North Macedonia?
- The lowest recorded value was 9.0% in 2020.
- How does North Macedonia rank for share of land area that is protected?
- North Macedonia ranks 41st out of 213 countries with data for 2025.
- Is share of land area that is protected rising or falling in North Macedonia?
- Over the last ten years it is up 199.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this North Macedonia 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.