Artificial surfaces (including urban and associated areas) — Area in World
World: Artificial surfaces (including urban and associated areas) — Area was 64,750 1000 ha in 2022. ▲ Rising
Artificial surfaces (including urban and associated areas) — Area in World, 1992–2022
Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Measured in 1000 ha.
Analysis
In 2022, artificial surfaces (including urban and associated areas) — area in World stood at 64,750 1000 ha. That is the highest value across all 31 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is up 3.5% on the previous year and up 27.5% over ten years.
Over the whole period, artificial surfaces (including urban and associated areas) — area in World peaked at 64,750 1000 ha in 2022 and was at its lowest, 26,059 1000 ha, in 1992.
World ranks 1st of 26 groups on this measure, in the top 10%.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 31 years of available data.
Artificial surfaces (including urban and associated areas) — Area in World, year by year
| Year | 1000 ha | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1992 | 26,059 1000 ha | — |
| 1993 | 26,809 1000 ha | +2.9% |
| 1994 | 27,560 1000 ha | +2.8% |
| 1995 | 28,329 1000 ha | +2.8% |
| 1996 | 29,101 1000 ha | +2.7% |
| 1997 | 29,835 1000 ha | +2.5% |
| 1998 | 30,604 1000 ha | +2.6% |
| 1999 | 31,333 1000 ha | +2.4% |
| 2000 | 32,123 1000 ha | +2.5% |
| 2001 | 34,336 1000 ha | +6.9% |
| 2002 | 36,509 1000 ha | +6.3% |
| 2003 | 38,635 1000 ha | +5.8% |
| 2004 | 40,834 1000 ha | +5.7% |
| 2005 | 42,256 1000 ha | +3.5% |
| 2006 | 43,550 1000 ha | +3.1% |
| 2007 | 44,888 1000 ha | +3.1% |
| 2008 | 46,142 1000 ha | +2.8% |
| 2009 | 47,261 1000 ha | +2.4% |
| 2010 | 48,383 1000 ha | +2.4% |
| 2011 | 49,444 1000 ha | +2.2% |
| 2012 | 50,767 1000 ha | +2.7% |
| 2013 | 52,693 1000 ha | +3.8% |
| 2014 | 54,484 1000 ha | +3.4% |
| 2015 | 55,509 1000 ha | +1.9% |
| 2016 | 56,176 1000 ha | +1.2% |
| 2017 | 57,704 1000 ha | +2.7% |
| 2018 | 58,671 1000 ha | +1.7% |
| 2019 | 59,952 1000 ha | +2.2% |
| 2020 | 60,779 1000 ha | +1.4% |
| 2021 | 62,578 1000 ha | +3.0% |
| 2022 | 64,750 1000 ha | +3.5% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 28,704 1000 ha | 26,059 1000 ha | 31,333 1000 ha | 8 |
| 2000s | 40,653 1000 ha | 32,123 1000 ha | 47,261 1000 ha | 10 |
| 2010s | 54,378 1000 ha | 48,383 1000 ha | 59,952 1000 ha | 10 |
| 2020s | 62,702 1000 ha | 60,779 1000 ha | 64,750 1000 ha | 3 |
Countries ranked near World
- 1 China 12,058 1000 ha compare
- 2 China, mainland 11,872 1000 ha compare
- 2 Türkiye 722.44 1000 ha compare
- 3 Iran (Islamic Republic of) 590.66 1000 ha compare
- 3 Russian Federation 2,839 1000 ha compare
- 4 India 2,567 1000 ha compare
More environment data for World
- Historical exposure to drought — Land soil moisture anomaly -3.5 Percentage change (2025)
- Historical exposure to drought — Cropland soil moisture anomaly -2.99 Percentage change (2025)
- Standard Deviation, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Standard Deviation 0.208 °C (2025)
- Temperature change 1.88 °C (2025)
- Wood-based panels — Production, annual growth rate 4.53 % change on previous year (2024)
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF (Mt CO2e), annual 1.27 % change on previous year (2024)
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF (Mt CO2e), per unit 0 Mt CO2e per US$ of GDP (2024)
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF (Mt CO2e), per capita 0 Mt CO2e per person (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Agriculture (Mt CO2e), annual growth rate 0.2123 % change on previous year (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is artificial surfaces (including urban and associated areas) — area in World?
- Artificial surfaces (including urban and associated areas) — area in World was 64,750 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 World?
- The highest recorded value was 64,750 1000 ha in 2022.
- What is the lowest artificial surfaces (including urban and associated areas) — area recorded in World?
- The lowest recorded value was 26,059 1000 ha in 1992.
- How does World rank for artificial surfaces (including urban and associated areas) — area?
- World ranks 1st out of 26 groups with data for 2022.
- Is artificial surfaces (including urban and associated areas) — area rising or falling in World?
- Over the last ten years it is up 27.5%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this World 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
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.