Artificial surfaces (including urban and associated areas) — Area in Western Europe
Western Europe: Artificial surfaces (including urban and associated areas) — Area was 5,399 1000 ha in 2024. ▬ Flat
Artificial surfaces (including urban and associated areas) — Area in Western Europe, 2001–2024
Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Measured in 1000 ha.
Analysis
Western Europe recorded 5,399 1000 ha for artificial surfaces (including urban and associated areas) — area in 2024.
The figure is down 0.1% on the previous year and up 0.4% over ten years.
Over the whole period, artificial surfaces (including urban and associated areas) — area in Western Europe peaked at 5,403 1000 ha in 2022 and was at its lowest, 5,314 1000 ha, in 2001.
That places Western Europe 12th out of 26 groups with data for 2024, putting it in the middle of the range.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 5,363 1000 ha | 5,314 1000 ha | 5,376 1000 ha | 9 |
| 2010s | 5,382 1000 ha | 5,378 1000 ha | 5,396 1000 ha | 10 |
| 2020s | 5,401 1000 ha | 5,399 1000 ha | 5,403 1000 ha | 5 |
Countries ranked near Western Europe
- 9 Italy 1,587 1000 ha compare
- 10 Indonesia 1,570 1000 ha compare
- 11 France 1,541 1000 ha compare
- 12 Australia and New Zealand 1,256 1000 ha compare
- 13 Uzbekistan 1,172 1000 ha compare
- 14 Ukraine 1,169 1000 ha compare
- 15 United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland 1,145 1000 ha compare
More environment data for Western Europe
- Historical exposure to drought — Cropland soil moisture anomaly -3.94 Percentage change (2025)
- Historical exposure to drought — Land soil moisture anomaly -3.1 Percentage change (2025)
- Standard Deviation 0.485 °C (2025)
- Temperature change 2.23 °C (2025)
- Standard Deviation, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Total fibre furnish — Production, annual growth rate -4.18 % change on previous year (2024)
- Other paper and paperboard, not elsewhere specified — Import value -2.05 % change on previous year (2024)
- Exposure to drought — Cropland soil moisture anomaly 2.84 Percentage change (2024)
- Exposure to drought — Land soil moisture anomaly 3.13 Percentage change (2024)
- Other paper and paperboard, not elsewhere specified — Import 11.81 % change on previous year (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is artificial surfaces (including urban and associated areas) — area in Western Europe?
- Artificial surfaces (including urban and associated areas) — area in Western Europe was 5,399 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 Western Europe?
- The highest recorded value was 5,403 1000 ha in 2022.
- What is the lowest artificial surfaces (including urban and associated areas) — area recorded in Western Europe?
- The lowest recorded value was 5,314 1000 ha in 2001.
- How does Western Europe rank for artificial surfaces (including urban and associated areas) — area?
- Western Europe ranks 12th out of 26 groups with data for 2024.
- Is artificial surfaces (including urban and associated areas) — area rising or falling in Western Europe?
- Over the last ten years it is up 0.4%. The long-run trend across the full record is flat.
- Where does this Western Europe 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
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.