Land cover and land cover change — Gain of artificial surfaces in Middle East and North Africa
Middle East and North Africa: Land cover and land cover change — Gain of artificial surfaces was 15,827 Square kilometres in 2022. ◆ Volatile
Land cover and land cover change — Gain of artificial surfaces in Middle East and North Africa, 2005–2022
Source: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Measured in Square kilometres.
Analysis
Middle East and North Africa recorded 15,827 Square kilometres for land cover and land cover change — gain of artificial surfaces in 2022. That is the highest value across all 5 years on record.
That represents a change of up 23.7% on the previous year and up 195.2% over ten years.
Over the whole period, land cover and land cover change — gain of artificial surfaces in Middle East and North Africa peaked at 15,827 Square kilometres in 2022 and was at its lowest, 2,876 Square kilometres, in 2005.
Middle East and North Africa ranks 10th of 56 groups on this measure, in the top quarter.
Land cover and land cover change — Gain of artificial surfaces in Middle East and North Africa, year by year
| Year | Square kilometres | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2005 | 2,876 Square kilometres | — |
| 2010 | 5,361 Square kilometres | +86.4% |
| 2015 | 9,254 Square kilometres | +72.6% |
| 2020 | 12,797 Square kilometres | +38.3% |
| 2022 | 15,827 Square kilometres | +23.7% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 2,876 Square kilometres | 2,876 Square kilometres | 2,876 Square kilometres | 1 |
| 2010s | 7,308 Square kilometres | 5,361 Square kilometres | 9,254 Square kilometres | 2 |
| 2020s | 14,312 Square kilometres | 12,797 Square kilometres | 15,827 Square kilometres | 2 |
Countries ranked near Middle East and North Africa
- 7 Ukraine 11,377 Square kilometres compare
- 8 Japan 10,888 Square kilometres compare
- 9 Germany 8,275 Square kilometres compare
- 10 France 8,076 Square kilometres compare
- 11 Nigeria 7,134 Square kilometres compare
- 12 Indonesia 6,849 Square kilometres compare
- 13 South Africa 6,405 Square kilometres compare
More environment data for Middle East and North Africa
- Historical exposure to drought — Cropland soil moisture anomaly -16.75 Percentage change (2025)
- Historical exposure to drought — Land soil moisture anomaly -31.05 Percentage change (2025)
- Exposure to drought — Cropland soil moisture anomaly -10.75 Percentage change (2024)
- Exposure to drought — Land soil moisture anomaly -15.82 Percentage change (2024)
- River flooding exposure — Cropland share exposed to river flooding 8.83 Percentage of agricultural land area (2022)
- Land cover and land cover change — Grassland 5,293 Square kilometres (2022)
- Land cover and land cover change — Loss of cropland 15,015 Square kilometres (2022)
Frequently asked questions
- What is land cover and land cover change — gain of artificial surfaces in Middle East and North Africa?
- Land cover and land cover change — gain of artificial surfaces in Middle East and North Africa was 15,827 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 Middle East and North Africa?
- The highest recorded value was 15,827 Square kilometres in 2022.
- What is the lowest land cover and land cover change — gain of artificial surfaces recorded in Middle East and North Africa?
- The lowest recorded value was 2,876 Square kilometres in 2005.
- How does Middle East and North Africa rank for land cover and land cover change — gain of artificial surfaces?
- Middle East and North Africa ranks 10th out of 56 groups with data for 2022.
- Is land cover and land cover change — gain of artificial surfaces rising or falling in Middle East and North Africa?
- Over the last ten years it is up 195.2%. The long-run trend across the full record is volatile.
- Where does this Middle East and North Africa 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.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 5 observations, free to reuse under OECD Terms and Conditions (attribution required).
About this data
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