Lakes and rivers permanent water area in New Zealand
New Zealand: Lakes and rivers permanent water area was 1.2% in 2022. ▲ Rising
Lakes and rivers permanent water area in New Zealand, 2000–2022
Source: United Nations Statistics Division, SDG Global Database.
Analysis
New Zealand recorded 1.2% for lakes and rivers permanent water area in 2022.
That represents a change of up 0.2% on the previous year and up 0.7% over ten years.
Over the whole period, lakes and rivers permanent water area in New Zealand peaked at 1.2% in 2005 and was at its lowest, 0.2%, in 2000.
That places New Zealand 43rd out of 221 countries with data for 2022, putting it in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 23 years of available data.
Lakes and rivers permanent water area in New Zealand, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 0.2% | — |
| 2001 | 0.5% | +101.6% |
| 2002 | 0.7% | +50.4% |
| 2003 | 1.0% | +33.7% |
| 2004 | 1.2% | +24.9% |
| 2005 | 1.2% | +0.7% |
| 2006 | 1.2% | -0.2% |
| 2007 | 1.2% | -0.1% |
| 2008 | 1.2% | -0.5% |
| 2009 | 1.2% | -0.2% |
| 2010 | 1.2% | -0.4% |
| 2011 | 1.2% | +0.0% |
| 2012 | 1.2% | +0.3% |
| 2013 | 1.2% | +0.3% |
| 2014 | 1.2% | +0.3% |
| 2015 | 1.2% | +0.2% |
| 2016 | 1.2% | -0.3% |
| 2017 | 1.2% | -0.3% |
| 2018 | 1.2% | -0.1% |
| 2019 | 1.2% | +0.1% |
| 2020 | 1.2% | -0.3% |
| 2021 | 1.2% | +0.6% |
| 2022 | 1.2% | +0.2% |
New Zealand compared with similar countries
- New Zealand's 1.2% is above the median for high income countries, which is 0.5%, 2.7× the median. (80 countries reporting)
- New Zealand's 1.2% is above the median for East Asia & Pacific, which is 0.4%, 2.8× the median. (33 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Lakes and rivers permanent water area in New Zealand 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.
| Year | Change | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | +101.6% | 0.2% | 0.5% |
| 2002 | +50.4% | 0.5% | 0.7% |
| 2003 | +33.7% | 0.7% | 1.0% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 1.0% | 0.2% | 1.2% | 10 |
| 2010s | 1.2% | 1.2% | 1.2% | 10 |
| 2020s | 1.2% | 1.2% | 1.2% | 3 |
Countries ranked near New Zealand
More environment data for New Zealand
- Historical exposure to drought — Land soil moisture anomaly -0.2131 Percentage change (2025)
- Historical exposure to drought — Cropland soil moisture anomaly 1.69 Percentage change (2025)
- Standard Deviation, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Standard Deviation 0.379 °C (2025)
- Temperature change 1.23 °C (2025)
- Nutrient potash K2O (total) — Agricultural Use, gaps filled 132,218 t (2024)
- Nutrient potash K2O (total) — Agricultural Use, annual growth rate 20.87 % change on previous year (2024)
- Country area — Area, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2024)
- Country area — Area, per unit of GDP 0 1000 ha per US$ of GDP (2024)
- Country area — Area, per capita 0.0051 1000 ha per person (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is lakes and rivers permanent water area in New Zealand?
- Lakes and rivers permanent water area in New Zealand was 1.2% in 2022, according to United Nations Statistics Division, SDG Global Database.
- What is the highest lakes and rivers permanent water area recorded in New Zealand?
- The highest recorded value was 1.2% in 2005.
- What is the lowest lakes and rivers permanent water area recorded in New Zealand?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.2% in 2000.
- How does New Zealand rank for lakes and rivers permanent water area?
- New Zealand ranks 43rd out of 221 countries with data for 2022.
- Is lakes and rivers permanent water area rising or falling in New Zealand?
- Over the last ten years it is up 0.7%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this New Zealand data come from?
- The figures come from United Nations Statistics Division, SDG Global Database, published as part of Lakes and rivers permanent water area (% of total land area). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 23 observations, free to reuse under UN SDG Global Database (open, attribution requested).