How does Americas rank for artificial surfaces (including urban and associated areas) — area?

Americas ranks 3rd out of 29 groups with data for 2022.

Is artificial surfaces (including urban and associated areas) — area rising or falling in Americas?

Over the last ten years it is up 18.2%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.

Where does this Americas data come from?

The figures come from Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, published as part of Artificial surfaces (including urban and associated areas) — Area from CCI_LC. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

Artificial surfaces (including urban and associated areas) — Area in Americas

Name: Artificial surfaces (including urban and associated areas) — Area in Americas
Creator: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
License: CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO (FAO)

Americas: Artificial surfaces (including urban and associated areas) — Area was 18,241 1000 ha in 2022. ▲ Rising

Latest (2022)

18,241 1000 ha

Change on year

up 2.1%

Rank

3rd

of 29 groups

All-time high

18,241 1000 ha

in 2022

All-time low

9,395 1000 ha

in 1992

Years of data

1992–2022

Artificial surfaces (including urban and associated areas) — Area in Americas, 1992–2022

Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Measured in 1000 ha.

Analysis

The most recent figure for artificial surfaces (including urban and associated areas) — area in Americas is 18,241 1000 ha, measured in 2022. That is the highest value across all 31 years on record.

That represents a change of up 2.1% on the previous year and up 18.2% over ten years.

Over the whole period, artificial surfaces (including urban and associated areas) — area in Americas peaked at 18,241 1000 ha in 2022 and was at its lowest, 9,395 1000 ha, in 1992.

That places Americas 3rd out of 29 groups with data for 2022, putting it in the top 10%.

The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 31 years of available data.

Averages by decade

Decade	Average	Lowest	Highest	Years
1990s	10,358 1000 ha	9,395 1000 ha	11,245 1000 ha	8
2000s	13,172 1000 ha	11,481 1000 ha	14,606 1000 ha	10
2010s	16,287 1000 ha	14,868 1000 ha	17,561 1000 ha	10
2020s	17,892 1000 ha	17,561 1000 ha	18,241 1000 ha	3

Countries ranked near Americas

1 China 12,058 1000 ha compare
2 China, mainland 11,872 1000 ha compare
3 Russian Federation 2,839 1000 ha compare
4 India 2,567 1000 ha compare
5 Brazil 2,207 1000 ha compare
6 Ukraine 1,917 1000 ha compare

See the full ranking of 270 places →

More environment data for Americas

Standard Deviation 0.303 °C (2025)
Temperature change 1.95 °C (2025)
Industrial roundwood — Production 740.92 million m3 (2024)
Wood fuel — Production 341.57 million m3 (2024)
Wood fuel, coniferous — Production 78.58 million m3 (2024)
Wood fuel, non-coniferous — Production 263.00 million m3 (2024)
Industrial roundwood — Export quantity 14.43 million m3 (2024)
Value Added (Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing) — Annual growth US$ -3.24 % (2024)
Value Added (Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing) — Annual growth US$ 2.72 % (2024)
Roundwood, coniferous — Production 533.65 million m3 (2024)

All data for Americas →

Frequently asked questions

What is artificial surfaces (including urban and associated areas) — area in Americas?: Artificial surfaces (including urban and associated areas) — area in Americas was 18,241 1000 ha in 2022, according to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
What is the highest artificial surfaces (including urban and associated areas) — area recorded in Americas?: The highest recorded value was 18,241 1000 ha in 2022.
What is the lowest artificial surfaces (including urban and associated areas) — area recorded in Americas?: The lowest recorded value was 9,395 1000 ha in 1992.
How does Americas rank for artificial surfaces (including urban and associated areas) — area?: Americas ranks 3rd out of 29 groups with data for 2022.
Is artificial surfaces (including urban and associated areas) — area rising or falling in Americas?: Over the last ten years it is up 18.2%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
Where does this Americas data come from?: The figures come from Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, published as part of Artificial surfaces (including urban and associated areas) — Area from CCI_LC. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

Download this data

CSV · JSON — 31 observations, free to reuse under CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO (FAO).

About this data

Indicator: Artificial surfaces (including urban and associated areas) — Area from CCI_LC
Unit: 1000 ha
Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Licence: CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO (FAO)
Coverage: 270 places, 8,231 data points, 1992–2022
Last refreshed: 12 August 2026

The FAOSTAT domain on Land Cover data under the Agri-Environmental Indicators section contains land cover information organized by the land cover classes of the international standard system for Environmental and Economic Accounting Central Framework (SEEA CF). The land cover information is compiled from publicly available Global Land Cover (GLC) maps: a) MODIS land cover types based on the Land Cover Classification System, LCCS; b) The European Spatial Agency (ESA) Climate Change Initiative (CCI) annual land cover maps produced by the Université catholique de Louvain (UCL)-Geomatics and now under the European Copernicus Program; c) The annual land cover maps which were produced under the European Copernicus Global Land Service (CGLS) (CGLS land cover, containing discrete land cover categorization), with spatial resolution 100m; and d) the WorldCover maps of the European Space Agency, produced at 10m resolution.