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

Sweden ranks 66th out of 240 countries with data for 2024.

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

Over the last ten years it is up 2.8%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.

Where does this Sweden 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 Sweden

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

Sweden: Artificial surfaces (including urban and associated areas) — Area was 169.12 1000 ha in 2024. ▲ Rising

Latest (2024)

169.12 1000 ha

Change on year

up 0.1%

World rank

66th

of 240 countries

All-time high

169.12 1000 ha

in 2024

All-time low

159.94 1000 ha

in 2001

Years of data

2001–2024

Artificial surfaces (including urban and associated areas) — Area in Sweden, 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 Sweden stood at 169.12 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 2.8% over ten years.

Over the whole period, artificial surfaces (including urban and associated areas) — area in Sweden peaked at 169.12 1000 ha in 2024 and was at its lowest, 159.94 1000 ha, in 2001.

Sweden ranks 66th of 240 countries 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	162.1 1000 ha	159.94 1000 ha	163.35 1000 ha	9
2010s	164.86 1000 ha	163.51 1000 ha	167.56 1000 ha	10
2020s	168.6 1000 ha	167.91 1000 ha	169.12 1000 ha	5

Countries ranked near Sweden

63 Portugal 187.82 1000 ha compare
64 Slovakia 177.57 1000 ha compare
65 Turkmenistan 173.43 1000 ha compare
67 Myanmar 163.02 1000 ha compare
68 Tunisia 155.21 1000 ha compare
69 Libya 151.27 1000 ha compare

See the full ranking of 269 places →

More environment data for Sweden

Land area equipped for irrigation — Share in Cropland 6.41 % (2024)
Land area equipped for irrigation — Area 161.5 1000 ha (2024)
Inland waters — Area 4,016 1000 ha (2024)
Permanent meadows and pastures — Share in Land area 1.11 % (2024)
Permanent meadows and pastures — Share in Agricultural land 15.26 % (2024)
Permanent meadows and pastures — Area 454 1000 ha (2024)
Permanent crops — Share in Agricultural land 0.1 % (2024)
Permanent crops — Area 3 1000 ha (2024)
Arable land — Share in Agricultural land 84.64 % (2024)
Arable land — Area 2,518 1000 ha (2024)

All data for Sweden →

Frequently asked questions

What is artificial surfaces (including urban and associated areas) — area in Sweden?: Artificial surfaces (including urban and associated areas) — area in Sweden was 169.12 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 Sweden?: The highest recorded value was 169.12 1000 ha in 2024.
What is the lowest artificial surfaces (including urban and associated areas) — area recorded in Sweden?: The lowest recorded value was 159.94 1000 ha in 2001.
How does Sweden rank for artificial surfaces (including urban and associated areas) — area?: Sweden ranks 66th out of 240 countries with data for 2024.
Is artificial surfaces (including urban and associated areas) — area rising or falling in Sweden?: Over the last ten years it is up 2.8%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
Where does this Sweden 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.