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

World ranks 1st out of 29 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.

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

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

World: Artificial surfaces (including urban and associated areas) — Area was 64,750 1000 ha in 2022. ▲ Rising

Latest (2022)

64,750 1000 ha

Change on year

up 3.5%

Rank

1st

of 29 groups

All-time high

64,750 1000 ha

in 2022

All-time low

26,059 1000 ha

in 1992

Years of data

1992–2022

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 29 groups on this measure, 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	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
3 Russian Federation 2,839 1000 ha compare
4 India 2,567 1000 ha compare

See the full ranking of 270 places →

More environment data for World

Inland waters — Area 443,046 1000 ha (2024)
Land area equipped for irrigation — Area 354,701 1000 ha (2024)
Land area equipped for irrigation — Share in Cropland 22.34 % (2024)
Cropland — Share in Agricultural land 34.18 % (2024)
Arable land — Share in Agricultural land 30.02 % (2024)
Arable land — Area 1.39 million 1000 ha (2024)
Cropland — Area per capita 0.19 ha/cap (2024)
Cropland — Share in Land area 12.2 % (2024)
Agricultural land — Value of agricultural production (Int. $) per Area 929.53 USD_PPP/ha (2024)
Agricultural land — Area 4.64 million 1000 ha (2024)

All data for World →

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 29 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

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.