Land cover and land cover change — Gain of artificial surfaces in EEA

EEA: Land cover and land cover change — Gain of artificial surfaces was 45,033 Square kilometres in 2022. ▲ Rising

Latest (2022)
45,033 Square kilometres
Change on year
up 8.0%
Rank
29th
of 758 regions
All-time high
45,033 Square kilometres
in 2022
All-time low
29,600 Square kilometres
in 2005
Years of data
5
2005–2022

Land cover and land cover change — Gain of artificial surfaces in EEA, 2005–2022

010.0k20.0k30.0k40.0k50.0k2005201320222005: 29.6k Square kilometres2010: 34.8k Square kilometres2015: 39.7k Square kilometres2020: 41.7k Square kilometres2022: 45.0k Square kilometres

Source: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Measured in Square kilometres.

Analysis

The most recent figure for land cover and land cover change — gain of artificial surfaces in EEA is 45,033 Square kilometres, measured in 2022. That is the highest value across all 5 years on record.

The figure is up 8.0% on the previous year and up 29.3% over ten years.

Over the whole period, land cover and land cover change — gain of artificial surfaces in EEA peaked at 45,033 Square kilometres in 2022 and was at its lowest, 29,600 Square kilometres, in 2005.

EEA ranks 29th of 758 regions on this measure, in the top 10%.

Land cover and land cover change — Gain of artificial surfaces in EEA, year by year

Annual values for Land cover and land cover change — Gain of artificial surfaces in EEA, 2005 to 2022.
Year Square kilometres Change
2005 29,600 Square kilometres
2010 34,819 Square kilometres +17.6%
2015 39,668 Square kilometres +13.9%
2020 41,712 Square kilometres +5.2%
2022 45,033 Square kilometres +8.0%

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
2000s 29,600 Square kilometres 29,600 Square kilometres 29,600 Square kilometres 1
2010s 37,243 Square kilometres 34,819 Square kilometres 39,668 Square kilometres 2
2020s 43,372 Square kilometres 41,712 Square kilometres 45,033 Square kilometres 2

Countries ranked near EEA

  1. 26 Saudi Arabia 2,837 Square kilometres compare
  2. 27 Egypt 2,756 Square kilometres compare
  3. 28 Malaysia 2,547 Square kilometres compare
  4. 29 Ghana 2,325 Square kilometres compare
  5. 30 Iraq 2,227 Square kilometres compare
  6. 31 Algeria 1,848 Square kilometres compare
  7. 31 Croatia 403.21 Square kilometres compare
  8. 32 Hungary 1,684 Square kilometres compare

See the full ranking of 978 places →

More environment data for EEA

All data for EEA →

Frequently asked questions

What is land cover and land cover change — gain of artificial surfaces in EEA?
Land cover and land cover change — gain of artificial surfaces in EEA was 45,033 Square kilometres in 2022, according to Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
What is the highest land cover and land cover change — gain of artificial surfaces recorded in EEA?
The highest recorded value was 45,033 Square kilometres in 2022.
What is the lowest land cover and land cover change — gain of artificial surfaces recorded in EEA?
The lowest recorded value was 29,600 Square kilometres in 2005.
How does EEA rank for land cover and land cover change — gain of artificial surfaces?
EEA ranks 29th out of 758 regions with data for 2022.
Is land cover and land cover change — gain of artificial surfaces rising or falling in EEA?
Over the last ten years it is up 29.3%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
Where does this EEA data come from?
The figures come from Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, published as part of Land cover and land cover change — Gain of artificial surfaces. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

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Land cover and land cover change — Gain of artificial surfaces in EEA. Statizoid, drawing on Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Retrieved 29 August 2026, from https://environment.statizoid.com/stat/land-cover-and-land-cover-change-gain-of-artificial-surfaces/eea/

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About this data

Indicator
Land cover and land cover change — Gain of artificial surfaces
Unit
Square kilometres
Source
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
Licence
OECD Terms and Conditions (attribution required)
Coverage
978 places, 4,890 data points, 2005–2022
Last refreshed

The land cover dataset provides a global assessment of land cover and land cover change to monitor pressures on ecosystems and biodiversity. By using geospatial data with high spatio-temporal resolution, it develops a set of internationally comparable indicators with a long time series and a five-year interval from 2000 to 2022 for the Climate Change Initiative Land Cover dataset, and from 1975 to 2030 for the Global Human Settlement Layer dataset. Please see the working paper for a more complete description of the methods. The dataset has a global coverage on the national level, while on the sub-national TL2 level (i.e. large subnational regions) results are reported for all OECD countries as well as for Argentina, Brazil, China, India, Indonesia and South Africa. The following country aggregates are included: Euro area, European Union, Advanced economies, Emerging market economies, G7, G20, OECD, OECD Europe, OECD Asia Oceania, OECD Americas, the LAC region and the World. Data source(s): Climate Change Initiative land cover data and Global Human Settlement Layer built-up area data. Contact: ENV.Stat@oecd.org Database documentation