Share of land area that is protected in Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico: Share of land area that is protected was 6.6% in 2025. ▼ Falling
Share of land area that is protected in Puerto Rico, 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
Puerto Rico recorded 6.6% for share of land area that is protected in 2025. That is the lowest value across all 13 years on record.
The figure is down 10.8% over ten years.
Over the whole period, share of land area that is protected in Puerto Rico peaked at 8.0% in 2013 and was at its lowest, 6.6%, in 2024.
Puerto Rico ranks 177th of 213 countries on this measure, in the bottom quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 13 years of available data.
Share of land area that is protected in Puerto Rico, year by year
| Year | % of total land area | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2013 | 8.0% | — |
| 2014 | 7.4% | -7.5% |
| 2015 | 7.4% | +0.0% |
| 2016 | 7.3% | -1.4% |
| 2017 | 7.3% | +0.0% |
| 2018 | 7.3% | +0.0% |
| 2019 | 7.3% | +0.0% |
| 2020 | 7.2% | -1.4% |
| 2021 | 7.4% | +2.8% |
| 2022 | 7.4% | +0.0% |
| 2023 | 6.7% | -9.5% |
| 2024 | 6.6% | -1.5% |
| 2025 | 6.6% | +0.0% |
Puerto Rico compared with similar countries
- Puerto Rico's 6.6% is below the median for high income countries, which is 21.5%, 31% of the median. (83 countries reporting)
- Puerto Rico's 6.6% is below the median for Latin America & Caribbean, which is 17.7%, 37% of the median. (42 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010s | 7.4% | 7.3% | 8.0% | 7 |
| 2020s | 7.0% | 6.6% | 7.4% | 6 |
Countries ranked near Puerto Rico
More reference data data for Puerto Rico
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Agricultural Soils 0.2501 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 0.1709 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (CO2eq) from N2O (AR5) - Agricultural 326.76 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (CO2eq) from CH4 (AR5) - IPCC Agriculture 1,009 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (CO2eq) from CH4 (AR5) - Manure Management 34.71 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (CH4) - Burning - Crop residues 0.0011 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (CH4) - Enteric Fermentation 34.81 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (CH4) - IPCC Agriculture 36.05 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (CH4) - Manure Management 1.24 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (CO2eq) from N2O (AR5) - Burning - Crop 0.0077 (2050)
Frequently asked questions
- What is share of land area that is protected in Puerto Rico?
- Share of land area that is protected in Puerto Rico was 6.6% 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 Puerto Rico?
- The highest recorded value was 8.0% in 2013.
- What is the lowest share of land area that is protected recorded in Puerto Rico?
- The lowest recorded value was 6.6% in 2024.
- How does Puerto Rico rank for share of land area that is protected?
- Puerto Rico ranks 177th out of 213 countries with data for 2025.
- Is share of land area that is protected rising or falling in Puerto Rico?
- Over the last ten years it is down 10.8%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Puerto Rico 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.