Artificial surfaces (including urban and associated areas) — Area in Australia and New Zealand

Australia and New Zealand: Artificial surfaces (including urban and associated areas) — Area was 1,256 1000 ha in 2024. ▲ Rising

Latest (2024)
1,256 1000 ha
Change on year
up 0.1%
World rank
12th
of 223 countries
All-time high
1,256 1000 ha
in 2024
All-time low
1,189 1000 ha
in 2001
Years of data
24
2001–2024

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

05001.0k1.5k2001201220242001: 1.2k 1000 ha2002: 1.2k 1000 ha2003: 1.2k 1000 ha2004: 1.2k 1000 ha2005: 1.2k 1000 ha2006: 1.2k 1000 ha2007: 1.2k 1000 ha2008: 1.2k 1000 ha2009: 1.2k 1000 ha2010: 1.2k 1000 ha2011: 1.2k 1000 ha2012: 1.2k 1000 ha2013: 1.2k 1000 ha2014: 1.2k 1000 ha2015: 1.2k 1000 ha2016: 1.2k 1000 ha2017: 1.2k 1000 ha2018: 1.2k 1000 ha2019: 1.2k 1000 ha2020: 1.2k 1000 ha2021: 1.3k 1000 ha2022: 1.3k 1000 ha2023: 1.3k 1000 ha2024: 1.3k 1000 ha

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 Australia and New Zealand is 1,256 1000 ha, measured in 2024. That is the highest value across all 24 years on record.

That represents a change of up 0.1% on the previous year and up 2.0% over ten years.

Over the whole period, artificial surfaces (including urban and associated areas) — area in Australia and New Zealand peaked at 1,256 1000 ha in 2024 and was at its lowest, 1,189 1000 ha, in 2001.

Australia and New Zealand ranks 12th of 223 countries on this measure, in the top 10%.

The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 24 years of available data.

Artificial surfaces (including urban and associated areas) — Area in Australia and New Zealand, year by year

Annual values for Artificial surfaces (including urban and associated areas) — Area from MODIS in Australia and New Zealand, 2001 to 2024.
Year 1000 ha Change
2001 1,189 1000 ha
2002 1,200 1000 ha +0.9%
2003 1,204 1000 ha +0.3%
2004 1,206 1000 ha +0.2%
2005 1,209 1000 ha +0.3%
2006 1,211 1000 ha +0.2%
2007 1,214 1000 ha +0.2%
2008 1,216 1000 ha +0.2%
2009 1,218 1000 ha +0.2%
2010 1,222 1000 ha +0.3%
2011 1,226 1000 ha +0.3%
2012 1,228 1000 ha +0.2%
2013 1,230 1000 ha +0.1%
2014 1,231 1000 ha +0.1%
2015 1,234 1000 ha +0.2%
2016 1,236 1000 ha +0.1%
2017 1,239 1000 ha +0.3%
2018 1,243 1000 ha +0.3%
2019 1,246 1000 ha +0.2%
2020 1,249 1000 ha +0.3%
2021 1,252 1000 ha +0.2%
2022 1,254 1000 ha +0.2%
2023 1,256 1000 ha +0.1%
2024 1,256 1000 ha +0.1%

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
2000s 1,207 1000 ha 1,189 1000 ha 1,218 1000 ha 9
2010s 1,233 1000 ha 1,222 1000 ha 1,246 1000 ha 10
2020s 1,254 1000 ha 1,249 1000 ha 1,256 1000 ha 5

Countries ranked near Australia and New Zealand

  1. 9 Italy 1,587 1000 ha compare
  2. 10 Indonesia 1,570 1000 ha compare
  3. 11 France 1,541 1000 ha compare
  4. 13 Uzbekistan 1,172 1000 ha compare
  5. 14 Ukraine 1,169 1000 ha compare
  6. 15 Timor-Leste 6.07 1000 ha compare
  7. 15 United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland 1,145 1000 ha compare

See the full ranking of 269 places →

More environment data for Australia and New Zealand

All data for Australia and New Zealand →

Frequently asked questions

What is artificial surfaces (including urban and associated areas) — area in Australia and New Zealand?
Artificial surfaces (including urban and associated areas) — area in Australia and New Zealand was 1,256 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 Australia and New Zealand?
The highest recorded value was 1,256 1000 ha in 2024.
What is the lowest artificial surfaces (including urban and associated areas) — area recorded in Australia and New Zealand?
The lowest recorded value was 1,189 1000 ha in 2001.
How does Australia and New Zealand rank for artificial surfaces (including urban and associated areas) — area?
Australia and New Zealand ranks 12th out of 223 countries with data for 2024.
Is artificial surfaces (including urban and associated areas) — area rising or falling in Australia and New Zealand?
Over the last ten years it is up 2.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
Where does this Australia and New Zealand 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 Australia and New Zealand. Statizoid, drawing on Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Retrieved 03 September 2026, from https://environment.statizoid.com/stat/artificial-surfaces-including-urban-and-associated-areas-area-from-modis/australia-and-new-zealand/

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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.