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

Central America ranks 21st out of 29 groups with data for 2024.

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

Over the last ten years it is up 4.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.

Where does this Central America 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.

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

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

Central America: Artificial surfaces (including urban and associated areas) — Area was 1,330 1000 ha in 2024. ▲ Rising

Latest (2024)

1,330 1000 ha

Change on year

up 0.2%

Rank

21st

of 29 groups

All-time high

1,330 1000 ha

in 2024

All-time low

1,224 1000 ha

in 2001

Years of data

2001–2024

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

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

Analysis

Central America recorded 1,330 1000 ha for artificial surfaces (including urban and associated areas) — area in 2024. That is the highest value across all 24 years on record.

That represents a change of up 0.2% on the previous year and up 4.0% over ten years.

Over the whole period, artificial surfaces (including urban and associated areas) — area in Central America peaked at 1,330 1000 ha in 2024 and was at its lowest, 1,224 1000 ha, in 2001.

Central America ranks 21st of 29 groups on this measure, in the middle of the range.

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

Averages by decade

Decade	Average	Lowest	Highest	Years
2000s	1,235 1000 ha	1,224 1000 ha	1,250 1000 ha	9
2010s	1,281 1000 ha	1,257 1000 ha	1,303 1000 ha	10
2020s	1,319 1000 ha	1,307 1000 ha	1,330 1000 ha	5

Countries ranked near Central America

18 Canada 1,099 1000 ha compare
19 Türkiye 1,027 1000 ha compare
20 Iran (Islamic Republic of) 928.32 1000 ha compare
21 Nigeria 898.22 1000 ha compare
22 Poland 840.17 1000 ha compare
23 Pakistan 716.04 1000 ha compare
24 Spain 668.72 1000 ha compare

See the full ranking of 269 places →

More environment data for Central America

Temperature change 1.58 °C (2025)
Standard Deviation 0.211 °C (2025)
Value Added (Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing) — Value US$ 95,489 million USD (2024)
Value Added (Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing) — Annual growth US$ 2.58 % (2024)
Value Added (Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing) — Share of GDP US$ 3.69 % (2024)
Value Added (Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing) — Share of GDP US$ 4.26 % (2024)
Industrial roundwood, non-coniferous — Production 5.15 million m3 (2024)
Sawlogs and veneer logs — Production 14.37 million m3 (2024)
Value Added (Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing) — Value US$, 2015 61,301 million USD (2024)
Wood fuel, non-coniferous — Production 54.58 million m3 (2024)

All data for Central America →

Frequently asked questions

What is artificial surfaces (including urban and associated areas) — area in Central America?: Artificial surfaces (including urban and associated areas) — area in Central America was 1,330 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 Central America?: The highest recorded value was 1,330 1000 ha in 2024.
What is the lowest artificial surfaces (including urban and associated areas) — area recorded in Central America?: The lowest recorded value was 1,224 1000 ha in 2001.
How does Central America rank for artificial surfaces (including urban and associated areas) — area?: Central America ranks 21st out of 29 groups with data for 2024.
Is artificial surfaces (including urban and associated areas) — area rising or falling in Central America?: Over the last ten years it is up 4.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
Where does this Central America 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.

Download this data

CSV · JSON — 24 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 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: 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.