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

Americas: Artificial surfaces (including urban and associated areas) — Area was 26,302 1000 ha in 2024. ▬ Flat

Latest (2024)
26,302 1000 ha
Change on year
up 0.1%
Rank
2nd
of 26 groups
All-time high
26,302 1000 ha
in 2024
All-time low
25,468 1000 ha
in 2001
Years of data
24
2001–2024

Artificial surfaces (including urban and associated areas) — Area in Americas, 2001–2024

010.0k20.0k30.0k2001201220242001: 25.5k 1000 ha2002: 25.6k 1000 ha2003: 25.6k 1000 ha2004: 25.6k 1000 ha2005: 25.7k 1000 ha2006: 25.7k 1000 ha2007: 25.8k 1000 ha2008: 25.8k 1000 ha2009: 25.8k 1000 ha2010: 25.9k 1000 ha2011: 25.9k 1000 ha2012: 25.9k 1000 ha2013: 26.0k 1000 ha2014: 26.0k 1000 ha2015: 26.0k 1000 ha2016: 26.0k 1000 ha2017: 26.1k 1000 ha2018: 26.1k 1000 ha2019: 26.1k 1000 ha2020: 26.2k 1000 ha2021: 26.2k 1000 ha2022: 26.2k 1000 ha2023: 26.3k 1000 ha2024: 26.3k 1000 ha

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

Analysis

In 2024, artificial surfaces (including urban and associated areas) — area in Americas stood at 26,302 1000 ha. That is the highest value across all 24 years on record.

Compared with earlier readings it is up 0.1% on the previous year and up 1.2% over ten years.

Over the whole period, artificial surfaces (including urban and associated areas) — area in Americas peaked at 26,302 1000 ha in 2024 and was at its lowest, 25,468 1000 ha, in 2001.

Americas ranks 2nd of 26 groups on this measure, in the top 10%.

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

Annual values for Artificial surfaces (including urban and associated areas) — Area from MODIS in Americas, 2001 to 2024.
Year 1000 ha Change
2001 25,468 1000 ha —
2002 25,564 1000 ha +0.4%
2003 25,597 1000 ha +0.1%
2004 25,629 1000 ha +0.1%
2005 25,678 1000 ha +0.2%
2006 25,729 1000 ha +0.2%
2007 25,772 1000 ha +0.2%
2008 25,808 1000 ha +0.1%
2009 25,836 1000 ha +0.1%
2010 25,872 1000 ha +0.1%
2011 25,906 1000 ha +0.1%
2012 25,937 1000 ha +0.1%
2013 25,954 1000 ha +0.1%
2014 25,983 1000 ha +0.1%
2015 26,022 1000 ha +0.1%
2016 26,048 1000 ha +0.1%
2017 26,074 1000 ha +0.1%
2018 26,106 1000 ha +0.1%
2019 26,142 1000 ha +0.1%
2020 26,172 1000 ha +0.1%
2021 26,205 1000 ha +0.1%
2022 26,241 1000 ha +0.1%
2023 26,278 1000 ha +0.1%
2024 26,302 1000 ha +0.1%

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
2000s 25,676 1000 ha 25,468 1000 ha 25,836 1000 ha 9
2010s 26,004 1000 ha 25,872 1000 ha 26,142 1000 ha 10
2020s 26,239 1000 ha 26,172 1000 ha 26,302 1000 ha 5

Countries ranked near Americas

  1. 1 China 16,225 1000 ha compare
  2. 2 China, mainland 15,855 1000 ha compare
  3. 2 Türkiye 1,027 1000 ha compare
  4. 3 Brazil 4,060 1000 ha compare
  5. 3 Iran (Islamic Republic of) 928.32 1000 ha compare
  6. 4 India 3,952 1000 ha compare
  7. 5 Japan 3,409 1000 ha compare
  8. 5 Viet Nam 576.34 1000 ha compare

See the full ranking of 269 places →

More environment data for Americas

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 26,302 1000 ha in 2024, 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 26,302 1000 ha in 2024.
What is the lowest artificial surfaces (including urban and associated areas) — area recorded in Americas?
The lowest recorded value was 25,468 1000 ha in 2001.
How does Americas rank for artificial surfaces (including urban and associated areas) — area?
Americas ranks 2nd out of 26 groups with data for 2024.
Is artificial surfaces (including urban and associated areas) — area rising or falling in Americas?
Over the last ten years it is up 1.2%. The long-run trend across the full record is flat.
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 MODIS. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

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Artificial surfaces (including urban and associated areas) — Area in Americas. Statizoid, drawing on Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Retrieved 27 September 2026, from https://environment.statizoid.com/stat/artificial-surfaces-including-urban-and-associated-areas-area-from-modis/americas/

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About this data

Indicator
Artificial surfaces (including urban and associated areas) — Area from MODIS
Unit
1000 ha
Source
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Licence
CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO (FAO)
Coverage
269 places, 6,390 data points, 2001–2024
Last refreshed

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.