Artificial surfaces (including urban and associated areas) — Area in United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland: Artificial surfaces (including urban and associated areas) — Area was 1,145 1000 ha in 2024. ▬ Flat

Latest (2024)
1,145 1000 ha
Change on year
up 0.1%
World rank
15th
of 223 countries
All-time high
1,145 1000 ha
in 2024
All-time low
1,126 1000 ha
in 2001
Years of data
24
2001–2024

Artificial surfaces (including urban and associated areas) — Area in United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, 2001–2024

02505007501.0k1.2k2001201220242001: 1.1k 1000 ha2002: 1.1k 1000 ha2003: 1.1k 1000 ha2004: 1.1k 1000 ha2005: 1.1k 1000 ha2006: 1.1k 1000 ha2007: 1.1k 1000 ha2008: 1.1k 1000 ha2009: 1.1k 1000 ha2010: 1.1k 1000 ha2011: 1.1k 1000 ha2012: 1.1k 1000 ha2013: 1.1k 1000 ha2014: 1.1k 1000 ha2015: 1.1k 1000 ha2016: 1.1k 1000 ha2017: 1.1k 1000 ha2018: 1.1k 1000 ha2019: 1.1k 1000 ha2020: 1.1k 1000 ha2021: 1.1k 1000 ha2022: 1.1k 1000 ha2023: 1.1k 1000 ha2024: 1.1k 1000 ha

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

Analysis

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland recorded 1,145 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 0.1% on the previous year and up 0.8% over ten years.

Over the whole period, artificial surfaces (including urban and associated areas) — area in United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland peaked at 1,145 1000 ha in 2024 and was at its lowest, 1,126 1000 ha, in 2001.

That places United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland 15th out of 223 countries with data for 2024, putting it in the top 10%.

Artificial surfaces (including urban and associated areas) — Area in United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, year by year

Annual values for Artificial surfaces (including urban and associated areas) — Area from MODIS in United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, 2001 to 2024.
Year 1000 ha Change
2001 1,126 1000 ha
2002 1,130 1000 ha +0.4%
2003 1,132 1000 ha +0.1%
2004 1,132 1000 ha +0.0%
2005 1,132 1000 ha +0.1%
2006 1,134 1000 ha +0.1%
2007 1,135 1000 ha +0.1%
2008 1,136 1000 ha +0.0%
2009 1,136 1000 ha +0.0%
2010 1,136 1000 ha +0.0%
2011 1,136 1000 ha +0.1%
2012 1,136 1000 ha -0.0%
2013 1,136 1000 ha +0.0%
2014 1,136 1000 ha +0.0%
2015 1,137 1000 ha +0.0%
2016 1,137 1000 ha +0.0%
2017 1,138 1000 ha +0.1%
2018 1,140 1000 ha +0.2%
2019 1,141 1000 ha +0.1%
2020 1,142 1000 ha +0.1%
2021 1,142 1000 ha +0.0%
2022 1,144 1000 ha +0.1%
2023 1,144 1000 ha +0.1%
2024 1,145 1000 ha +0.1%

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
2000s 1,133 1000 ha 1,126 1000 ha 1,136 1000 ha 9
2010s 1,137 1000 ha 1,136 1000 ha 1,141 1000 ha 10
2020s 1,144 1000 ha 1,142 1000 ha 1,145 1000 ha 5

Countries ranked near United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

  1. 12 Republic of Moldova 110.64 1000 ha compare
  2. 12 Australia and New Zealand 1,256 1000 ha compare
  3. 13 Uzbekistan 1,172 1000 ha compare
  4. 13 Melanesia 29.85 1000 ha compare
  5. 14 Lao People's Democratic Republic 20.5 1000 ha compare
  6. 14 Ukraine 1,169 1000 ha compare
  7. 15 Timor-Leste 6.07 1000 ha compare
  8. 16 Australia 1,125 1000 ha compare
  9. 16 Micronesia 2.23 1000 ha compare
  10. 17 Mexico 1,114 1000 ha compare
  11. 18 Micronesia (Federated States of) 0 1000 ha
  12. 18 South Africa 1,111 1000 ha compare
  13. 18 Wallis and Futuna Islands 0 1000 ha
  14. 18 Polynesia 0 1000 ha

See the full ranking of 269 places →

More environment data for United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

All data for United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland →

Frequently asked questions

What is artificial surfaces (including urban and associated areas) — area in United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland?
Artificial surfaces (including urban and associated areas) — area in United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland was 1,145 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 United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland?
The highest recorded value was 1,145 1000 ha in 2024.
What is the lowest artificial surfaces (including urban and associated areas) — area recorded in United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland?
The lowest recorded value was 1,126 1000 ha in 2001.
How does United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland rank for artificial surfaces (including urban and associated areas) — area?
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland ranks 15th out of 223 countries with data for 2024.
Is artificial surfaces (including urban and associated areas) — area rising or falling in United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland?
Over the last ten years it is up 0.8%. The long-run trend across the full record is flat.
Where does this United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland 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 United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Statizoid, drawing on Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Retrieved 14 September 2026, from https://environment.statizoid.com/stat/artificial-surfaces-including-urban-and-associated-areas-area-from-modis/united-kingdom-of-great-britain-and-northern-ireland/

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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.