Inland waters — Area in Europe

Europe: Inland waters — Area was 92,972 1000 ha in 2024. ▲ Rising

Latest (2024)
92,972 1000 ha
Change on year
down 0.0%
Rank
4th
of 32 groups
All-time high
93,249 1000 ha
in 2008
All-time low
65,560 1000 ha
in 1961
Years of data
64
1961–2024

Inland waters — Area in Europe, 1961–2024

020.0k40.0k60.0k80.0k100.0k196119922024

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

Analysis

The most recent figure for inland waters — area in Europe is 92,972 1000 ha, measured in 2024.

Compared with earlier readings it is up 0.1% over ten years.

Over the whole period, inland waters — area in Europe peaked at 93,249 1000 ha in 2008 and was at its lowest, 65,560 1000 ha, in 1961.

Europe ranks 4th of 32 groups on this measure, in the top 10%.

The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 64 years of available data.

Inland waters — Area in Europe, year by year

Annual values for Inland waters — Area in Europe, 1961 to 2024.
Year 1000 ha Change
1961 65,560 1000 ha —
1962 65,562 1000 ha +0.0%
1963 65,562 1000 ha -0.0%
1964 65,562 1000 ha +0.0%
1965 65,562 1000 ha +0.0%
1966 65,564 1000 ha +0.0%
1967 65,564 1000 ha +0.0%
1968 65,566 1000 ha +0.0%
1969 65,566 1000 ha +0.0%
1970 65,566 1000 ha +0.0%
1971 65,568 1000 ha +0.0%
1972 65,568 1000 ha +0.0%
1973 65,570 1000 ha +0.0%
1974 65,574 1000 ha +0.0%
1975 65,588 1000 ha +0.0%
1976 65,598 1000 ha +0.0%
1977 65,602 1000 ha +0.0%
1978 65,604 1000 ha +0.0%
1979 65,608 1000 ha +0.0%
1980 65,618 1000 ha +0.0%
1981 65,622 1000 ha +0.0%
1982 65,620 1000 ha -0.0%
1983 65,628 1000 ha +0.0%
1984 65,632 1000 ha +0.0%
1985 65,634 1000 ha +0.0%
1986 65,634 1000 ha +0.0%
1987 65,636 1000 ha +0.0%
1988 65,638 1000 ha +0.0%
1989 65,736 1000 ha +0.2%
1990 65,738 1000 ha +0.0%
1991 65,726 1000 ha -0.0%
1992 91,413 1000 ha +39.1%
1993 91,796 1000 ha +0.4%
1994 92,280 1000 ha +0.5%
1995 92,583 1000 ha +0.3%
1996 92,626 1000 ha +0.0%
1997 92,566 1000 ha -0.1%
1998 92,302 1000 ha -0.3%
1999 91,584 1000 ha -0.8%
2000 92,159 1000 ha +0.6%
2001 92,306 1000 ha +0.2%
2002 92,408 1000 ha +0.1%
2003 92,398 1000 ha -0.0%
2004 92,372 1000 ha -0.0%
2005 92,513 1000 ha +0.2%
2006 93,076 1000 ha +0.6%
2007 93,104 1000 ha +0.0%
2008 93,249 1000 ha +0.2%
2009 93,168 1000 ha -0.1%
2010 93,066 1000 ha -0.1%
2011 93,075 1000 ha +0.0%
2012 93,098 1000 ha +0.0%
2013 92,995 1000 ha -0.1%
2014 92,922 1000 ha -0.1%
2015 92,880 1000 ha -0.0%
2016 92,832 1000 ha -0.1%
2017 92,908 1000 ha +0.1%
2018 92,842 1000 ha -0.1%
2019 92,854 1000 ha +0.0%
2020 92,870 1000 ha +0.0%
2021 92,862 1000 ha -0.0%
2022 92,872 1000 ha +0.0%
2023 92,985 1000 ha +0.1%
2024 92,972 1000 ha -0.0%

Biggest year-on-year movements

Years where Inland waters — Area in Europe changed far more than this series normally does. A large move can be a real event or a change in how the figure was measured — the source note below says who published it.

YearChange FromTo
1992 +39.1% 65,726 1000 ha 91,413 1000 ha

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1960s 65,563 1000 ha 65,560 1000 ha 65,566 1000 ha 9
1970s 65,585 1000 ha 65,566 1000 ha 65,608 1000 ha 10
1980s 65,640 1000 ha 65,618 1000 ha 65,736 1000 ha 10
1990s 86,861 1000 ha 65,726 1000 ha 92,626 1000 ha 10
2000s 92,675 1000 ha 92,159 1000 ha 93,249 1000 ha 10
2010s 92,947 1000 ha 92,832 1000 ha 93,098 1000 ha 10
2020s 92,912 1000 ha 92,862 1000 ha 92,985 1000 ha 5

Countries ranked near Europe

  1. 1 OECD 204,515 1000 ha compare
  2. 2 Canada 108,496 1000 ha compare
  3. 3 Russian Federation 72,138 1000 ha compare
  4. 3 Russia 72,138 1000 ha compare
  5. 5 United States 68,409 1000 ha compare
  6. 6 USSR 48,903 1000 ha compare
  7. 7 India 31,407 1000 ha compare

See the full ranking of 220 places →

More environment data for Europe

All data for Europe →

Frequently asked questions

What is inland waters — area in Europe?
Inland waters — area in Europe was 92,972 1000 ha in 2024, according to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
What is the highest inland waters — area recorded in Europe?
The highest recorded value was 93,249 1000 ha in 2008.
What is the lowest inland waters — area recorded in Europe?
The lowest recorded value was 65,560 1000 ha in 1961.
How does Europe rank for inland waters — area?
Europe ranks 4th out of 32 groups with data for 2024.
Is inland waters — area rising or falling in Europe?
Over the last ten years it is up 0.1%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
Where does this Europe data come from?
The figures come from Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, published as part of Inland waters — Area. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

Download this data

CSV · JSON — 64 observations, free to reuse under CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO (FAO).

Share, cite or embed this page

Cite this page

Inland waters — Area in Europe. Statizoid, drawing on Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Retrieved 27 September 2026, from https://environment.statizoid.com/stat/inland-waters-area/europe/

Embed or link this data

Paste this into a page to link back to these figures. The data itself is free to reuse under CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO (FAO); please keep the attribution.

<a href="https://environment.statizoid.com/stat/inland-waters-area/europe/">Inland waters — Area in Europe</a> — Statizoid

About this data

Indicator
Inland waters — Area
Unit
1000 ha
Source
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Licence
CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO (FAO)
Coverage
220 places, 12,677 data points, 1961–2024
Last refreshed

The FAOSTAT Land Use domain contains data on twenty-one land use categories and twenty-three categories of irrigation and agricultural practices. Data are available yearly and by country, regional and global levels. The domain includes Land Use Indicators providing information on the percentage share of agricultural and forest land, and their sub-components, including irrigated areas and areas under organic agriculture, within a country land use matrix. Data are available at country, regional and global level, for the following elements: (in percentage) i) Share in Land area; ii) Share in Agricultural land, iii) Share in Cropland; and iv) Share in Forest land; (in ha/pc) v) Area per capita.