Middle East and North Africa vs South Africa: Land cover and land cover change — Gain of artificial surfaces

Middle East and North Africa
15,827 Square kilometres
in 2022
South Africa
6,405 Square kilometres
in 2022
Middle East and North Africa rank
10th
South Africa rank
13th

Land cover and land cover change — Gain of artificial surfaces over time

  • Middle East and North Africa
  • South Africa
05.0k10.0k15.0k200520132022

How they compare

Middle East and North Africa currently reports 15,827 Square kilometres against 6,405 Square kilometres in South Africa, a difference of 9,422 Square kilometres.

That makes Middle East and North Africa's figure about 2.5 times South Africa's.

Across all 5 years both countries report, Middle East and North Africa has been ahead every year.

Middle East and North Africa ranks 10th and South Africa ranks 13th of 56 groups.

Middle East and North Africa has averaged higher in every one of the 3 decades both report.

Head to head by decade

Decade Middle East and North Africa South Africa Difference Ahead
2000s 2,876 Square kilometres 1,206 Square kilometres 1,670 Square kilometres Middle East and North Africa
2010s 7,308 Square kilometres 2,661 Square kilometres 4,647 Square kilometres Middle East and North Africa
2020s 14,312 Square kilometres 6,162 Square kilometres 8,150 Square kilometres Middle East and North Africa

Averages of every year both report within each decade.

Frequently asked questions

Which has higher land cover and land cover change — gain of artificial surfaces, Middle East and North Africa or South Africa?
Middle East and North Africa, at 15,827 Square kilometres against 6,405 Square kilometres in South Africa as of 2022.
What is the difference in land cover and land cover change — gain of artificial surfaces between Middle East and North Africa and South Africa?
9,422 Square kilometres, with Middle East and North Africa ahead.
How many years of comparable data are there for Middle East and North Africa and South Africa?
5 years are reported by both, from 2005 to 2022.
How do Middle East and North Africa and South Africa rank globally for land cover and land cover change — gain of artificial surfaces?
Middle East and North Africa ranks 10th and South Africa ranks 13th of 56 groups.
Where does this data come from?
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, published as Land cover and land cover change — Gain of artificial surfaces. Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.

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Middle East and North Africa vs South Africa: Land cover and land cover change — Gain of artificial surfaces. Statizoid, drawing on Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Retrieved 17 September 2026, from https://environment.statizoid.com/compare/land-cover-and-land-cover-change-gain-of-artificial-surfaces/middle-east-and-north-africa/south-africa/

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About this data

Indicator
Land cover and land cover change — Gain of artificial surfaces
Unit
Square kilometres
Source
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
Licence
OECD Terms and Conditions (attribution required)
Coverage
978 places, 4,890 data points, 2005–2022
Last refreshed

The land cover dataset provides a global assessment of land cover and land cover change to monitor pressures on ecosystems and biodiversity. By using geospatial data with high spatio-temporal resolution, it develops a set of internationally comparable indicators with a long time series and a five-year interval from 2000 to 2022 for the Climate Change Initiative Land Cover dataset, and from 1975 to 2030 for the Global Human Settlement Layer dataset. Please see the working paper for a more complete description of the methods. The dataset has a global coverage on the national level, while on the sub-national TL2 level (i.e. large subnational regions) results are reported for all OECD countries as well as for Argentina, Brazil, China, India, Indonesia and South Africa. The following country aggregates are included: Euro area, European Union, Advanced economies, Emerging market economies, G7, G20, OECD, OECD Europe, OECD Asia Oceania, OECD Americas, the LAC region and the World. Data source(s): Climate Change Initiative land cover data and Global Human Settlement Layer built-up area data. Contact: ENV.Stat@oecd.org Database documentation