Share of land area that is protected in Sweden
Sweden: Share of land area that is protected was 15.8% in 2025. ▲ Rising
Share of land area that is protected in Sweden, 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
Sweden recorded 15.8% for share of land area that is protected in 2025. That is the highest value across all 13 years on record.
That represents a change of up 1.9% on the previous year and up 6.0% over ten years.
Over the whole period, share of land area that is protected in Sweden peaked at 15.8% in 2025 and was at its lowest, 14.4%, in 2019.
That places Sweden 119th 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 Sweden, year by year
| Year | % of total land area | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2013 | 14.6% | — |
| 2014 | 14.8% | +1.4% |
| 2015 | 14.9% | +0.7% |
| 2016 | 14.5% | -2.7% |
| 2017 | 14.9% | +2.8% |
| 2018 | 14.9% | +0.0% |
| 2019 | 14.4% | -3.4% |
| 2020 | 14.5% | +0.7% |
| 2021 | 14.5% | +0.0% |
| 2022 | 15.4% | +6.2% |
| 2023 | 15.4% | +0.0% |
| 2024 | 15.5% | +0.6% |
| 2025 | 15.8% | +1.9% |
Sweden compared with similar countries
- Sweden's 15.8% is below the median for high income countries, which is 21.5%, 73% of the median. (83 countries reporting)
- Sweden's 15.8% is below the median for Europe & Central Asia, which is 22.1%, 71% of the median. (55 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010s | 14.7% | 14.4% | 14.9% | 7 |
| 2020s | 15.2% | 14.5% | 15.8% | 6 |
Countries ranked near Sweden
More reference data data for Sweden
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 0.4328 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 0.2237 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 1.68 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 0.2063 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Agricultural Soils 1.68 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 1.45 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure Management 0.9766 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 1.13 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 8.03 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 1.12 (2050)
Frequently asked questions
- What is share of land area that is protected in Sweden?
- Share of land area that is protected in Sweden was 15.8% 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 Sweden?
- The highest recorded value was 15.8% in 2025.
- What is the lowest share of land area that is protected recorded in Sweden?
- The lowest recorded value was 14.4% in 2019.
- How does Sweden rank for share of land area that is protected?
- Sweden ranks 119th out of 213 countries with data for 2025.
- Is share of land area that is protected rising or falling in Sweden?
- Over the last ten years it is up 6.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Sweden 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.