World rankings / DATA EXPLORER

THE GLOBAL INDEX #108

Marine protected areas2020

Marine protected areas as a percentage of the corresponding marine area, under the source's coverage definition.

World Bank
Comparable ranking year2025Latest published year: 2025
Economies with data173 / 217No observation: 44
First-ranked country or territoryPalau100 %

Top 10

% · 2020
01Palau
100
02Monaco
99.8
06France
50.4
07Germany
45.4
09Chile
41.3
10Australia
40.8

Complete ranking

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Marine protected areas · 2020 · %
RankCountry / territoryValue (%)Year
01Palau1002020
02Monaco99.82020
03St. Martin96.42020
04New Caledonia96.32020
05Kazakhstan50.72020
06France50.42020
07Germany45.42020
08United Kingdom44.22020
09Chile41.32020
10Australia40.82020
11United States37.42020
12Belgium36.72020
13Seychelles32.82020
14Northern Mariana Islands322020
15New Zealand30.42020
16Gabon28.82020
17Netherlands26.92020
18Brazil26.82020
19Lithuania25.62020
20Romania23.12020
21Poland22.62020
22Mexico21.62020
23Estonia18.82020
24Denmark18.32020
25Dominican Republic182020
26Colombia17.22020
27Portugal16.82020
28Latvia162020
28Sudan162020
30South Africa15.52020
31Sweden15.42020
32Ecuador13.32020
33Spain12.82020
34Finland122020
35Argentina11.82020
35Kiribati11.82020
37Panama11.62020
38United Arab Emirates11.52020
39Belize112020
40Cameroon10.92020
41Italy9.72020
42Guinea-Bissau92020
42Croatia92020
44Canada8.82020
45Sint Maarten8.72020
46Cyprus8.62020
47Japan8.22020
48Bulgaria8.12020
49Bahamas7.92020
50Malta7.42020
51China5.52020
52Bangladesh5.42020
53Egypt52020
54Honduras4.62020
55Greece4.52020
55Greenland4.52020
57Thailand4.42020
58Venezuela4.32020
59Mauritania4.22020
60St. Kitts & Nevis42020
61Cuba3.92020
62Nicaragua3.42020
62Ukraine3.42020
64Malaysia3.32020
65Indonesia3.12020
66Congo - Brazzaville32020
66Turkmenistan32020
66Tanzania32020
69Albania2.82020
70Costa Rica2.72020
71South Korea2.52020
71Saudi Arabia2.52020
73Ireland2.32020
73Qatar2.32020
73Slovenia2.32020
76Russia2.22020
77Mozambique2.12020
78Puerto Rico1.82020
79Namibia1.72020
80Haiti1.52020
80Norway1.52020
80Suriname1.52020
83Cambodia1.42020
83Kuwait1.42020
83Timor-Leste1.42020
86Bahrain1.22020
86Philippines1.22020
88Senegal1.12020
89Jordan12020
89Tunisia12020
91Fiji0.92020
91Madagascar0.92020
93Guatemala0.82020
93Iran0.82020
93Jamaica0.82020
93Kenya0.82020
93Pakistan0.82020
93Uruguay0.82020
99Georgia0.72020
99Morocco0.72020
99El Salvador0.72020
102Gambia0.62020
102Libya0.62020
102Vietnam0.62020
105Guinea0.52020
105Myanmar (Burma)0.52020
105Peru0.52020
105Sierra Leone0.52020
105U.S. Virgin Islands0.52020
105Yemen0.52020
111Azerbaijan0.42020
111Comoros0.42020
111Iceland0.42020
114Antigua & Barbuda0.32020
114Marshall Islands0.32020
116Brunei0.22020
116Congo - Kinshasa0.22020
116Djibouti0.22020
116Equatorial Guinea0.22020
116India0.22020
116Lebanon0.22020
116St. Lucia0.22020
116Syria0.22020
116Togo0.22020
116St. Vincent & Grenadines0.22020
126Côte d’Ivoire0.12020
126Cayman Islands0.12020
126Algeria0.12020
126Ghana0.12020
126Grenada0.12020
126Liberia0.12020
126Sri Lanka0.12020
126Maldives0.12020
126Montenegro0.12020
126Oman0.12020
126Papua New Guinea0.12020
126Solomon Islands0.12020
126Turks & Caicos Islands0.12020
126Tonga0.12020
126Türkiye0.12020
126Samoa0.12020
142Aruba02020
142Angola02020
142American Samoa02020
142Benin02020
142Bosnia & Herzegovina02020
142Bermuda02020
142Barbados02020
142Cape Verde02020
142Curaçao02020
142Dominica02020
142Eritrea02020
142Faroe Islands02020
142Micronesia02020
142Gibraltar02020
142Guam02020
142Guyana02020
142Hong Kong SAR China02020
142Isle of Man02020
142Iraq02020
142Israel02020
142Mauritius02020
142Nigeria02020
142North Korea02020
142Palestinian Territories02020
142French Polynesia02020
142Singapore02020
142Somalia02020
142São Tomé & Príncipe02020
142Trinidad & Tobago02020
142Tuvalu02020
142British Virgin Islands02020
142Vanuatu02020

How this ranking works

For annual statistics, the default is the newest year covering at least 70% of the maximum available country coverage, and at least 20 economies where possible. A ranking uses one year or report edition; missing observations are not replaced with another year. Newer years with lower coverage can be selected.

Intentional homicide rates and peace scores rank from lowest to highest; other indicators rank from highest to lowest. Ranks use original values and competition ranking for ties, for example 1, 2, 2, 4. Filtering or changing display order does not recalculate global ranks. Higher values are not necessarily better.

Statistics reflect the public source snapshot, not live measurements. Some series are modeled estimates or multi-year averages. See original metadata.

No observation (44)

Afghanistan · Andorra · Armenia · Austria · Belarus · Bhutan · Bolivia · Botswana · Burkina Faso · Burundi · Central African Republic · Chad · Channel Islands · Czechia · Eswatini · Ethiopia · Hungary · Kosovo · Kyrgyzstan · Laos · Lesotho · Liechtenstein · Luxembourg · Macao SAR China · Malawi · Mali · Moldova · Mongolia · Nauru · Nepal · Niger · North Macedonia · Paraguay · Rwanda · San Marino · Serbia · Slovakia · South Sudan · Switzerland · Tajikistan · Uganda · Uzbekistan · Zambia · Zimbabwe

Source & definition

Indicator definition
Marine protected areas as a percentage of the corresponding marine area, under the source's coverage definition.
Unit
%
Source & definition
World Bank · ER.MRN.PTMR.ZS
Open original source ↗
Original metadata
Marine protected areas are areas of intertidal or subtidal terrain--and overlying water and associated flora and fauna and historical and cultural features--that have been reserved by law or other effective means to protect part or all of the enclosed environment.

{
  "id": "ER.MRN.PTMR.ZS",
  "name": "Marine protected areas (% of territorial waters)",
  "unit": "",
  "source": {
    "id": "2",
    "value": "World Development Indicators"
  },
  "sourceNote": "Marine protected areas are areas of intertidal or subtidal terrain--and overlying water and associated flora and fauna and historical and cultural features--that have been reserved by law or other effective means to protect part or all of the enclosed environment.",
  "sourceOrganization": "Protected Planet: The World Database on Protected Areas (WDPA) and World Database on Other Effective Area-based Conservation Measures (WD-OECM), UN Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC), uri: https://www.protectedplanet.net/en, note: Only the latest data can be retrieved from the Protected Planet website. The time series are provided directly to WDI by Protected Planet., publisher: Protected Planet, date accessed: 20240516, date published: 202405;\nInternational Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), uri: https://www.protectedplanet.net/en, publisher: Protected Planet, date accessed: 20240516",
  "topics": [
    {
      "id": "19",
      "value": "Climate Change"
    },
    {
      "id": "6",
      "value": "Environment "
    }
  ]
}