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

Iceland ranks 170th out of 240 countries with data for 2024.

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

Over the last ten years it is up 0.7%. The long-run trend across the full record is flat.

Where does this Iceland 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 Iceland

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

Iceland: Artificial surfaces (including urban and associated areas) — Area was 6.05 1000 ha in 2024. ▬ Flat

Latest (2024)

6.05 1000 ha

Change on year

up 0.7%

World rank

170th

of 240 countries

All-time high

6.05 1000 ha

in 2024

All-time low

5.6 1000 ha

in 2001

Years of data

2001–2024

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

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 Iceland stood at 6.05 1000 ha. That is the highest value across all 24 years on record.

The figure is up 0.7% on the previous year and up 0.7% over ten years.

Over the whole period, artificial surfaces (including urban and associated areas) — area in Iceland peaked at 6.05 1000 ha in 2024 and was at its lowest, 5.6 1000 ha, in 2001.

Iceland ranks 170th of 240 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.

Averages by decade

Decade	Average	Lowest	Highest	Years
2000s	5.84 1000 ha	5.6 1000 ha	5.96 1000 ha	9
2010s	5.99 1000 ha	5.9 1000 ha	6.03 1000 ha	10
2020s	6.02 1000 ha	6.01 1000 ha	6.05 1000 ha	5

Countries ranked near Iceland

167 French Guiana 7.61 1000 ha compare
168 Guadeloupe 6.93 1000 ha compare
169 Timor-Leste 6.07 1000 ha compare
171 Guinea-Bissau 5.43 1000 ha compare
172 Mauritius 5.42 1000 ha compare
173 Martinique 4.86 1000 ha compare

See the full ranking of 269 places →

More environment data for Iceland

Land area equipped for irrigation — Share in Cropland 0.04 % (2024)
Land area equipped for irrigation — Area 0.05 1000 ha (2024)
Inland waters — Area 217 1000 ha (2024)
Permanent meadows and pastures — Share in Land area 15.05 % (2024)
Permanent meadows and pastures — Share in Agricultural land 92.61 % (2024)
Permanent meadows and pastures — Area 1,517 1000 ha (2024)
Arable land — Share in Agricultural land 7.39 % (2024)
Arable land — Area 121 1000 ha (2024)
Cropland — Area per capita 0.31 ha/cap (2024)
Cropland — Share in Land area 1.2 % (2024)

All data for Iceland →

Frequently asked questions

What is artificial surfaces (including urban and associated areas) — area in Iceland?: Artificial surfaces (including urban and associated areas) — area in Iceland was 6.05 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 Iceland?: The highest recorded value was 6.05 1000 ha in 2024.
What is the lowest artificial surfaces (including urban and associated areas) — area recorded in Iceland?: The lowest recorded value was 5.6 1000 ha in 2001.
How does Iceland rank for artificial surfaces (including urban and associated areas) — area?: Iceland ranks 170th out of 240 countries with data for 2024.
Is artificial surfaces (including urban and associated areas) — area rising or falling in Iceland?: Over the last ten years it is up 0.7%. The long-run trend across the full record is flat.
Where does this Iceland 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.