Land cover and land cover change — Gain of artificial surfaces in New Zealand

New Zealand: Land cover and land cover change — Gain of artificial surfaces was 276.28 Square kilometres in 2022. ▲ Rising

Latest (2022)
276.28 Square kilometres
Change on year
up 36.2%
World rank
103rd
of 164 countries
All-time high
276.28 Square kilometres
in 2022
All-time low
100.72 Square kilometres
in 2005
Years of data
5
2005–2022

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

01002003002005201320222005: 100.7 Square kilometres2010: 144.5 Square kilometres2015: 179.9 Square kilometres2020: 202.9 Square kilometres2022: 276.3 Square kilometres

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

Analysis

In 2022, land cover and land cover change — gain of artificial surfaces in New Zealand stood at 276.28 Square kilometres. That is the highest value across all 5 years on record.

That represents a change of up 36.2% on the previous year and up 91.2% over ten years.

Over the whole period, land cover and land cover change — gain of artificial surfaces in New Zealand peaked at 276.28 Square kilometres in 2022 and was at its lowest, 100.72 Square kilometres, in 2005.

New Zealand ranks 103rd of 164 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.

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

Annual values for Land cover and land cover change — Gain of artificial surfaces in New Zealand, 2005 to 2022.
Year Square kilometres Change
2005 100.72 Square kilometres
2010 144.51 Square kilometres +43.5%
2015 179.89 Square kilometres +24.5%
2020 202.87 Square kilometres +12.8%
2022 276.28 Square kilometres +36.2%

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
2000s 100.72 Square kilometres 100.72 Square kilometres 100.72 Square kilometres 1
2010s 162.2 Square kilometres 144.51 Square kilometres 179.89 Square kilometres 2
2020s 239.58 Square kilometres 202.87 Square kilometres 276.28 Square kilometres 2

Countries ranked near New Zealand

  1. 100 Nepal 297.69 Square kilometres compare
  2. 101 Netherlands 1,611 Square kilometres compare
  3. 101 Honduras 283.76 Square kilometres compare
  4. 102 Congo 279.41 Square kilometres compare
  5. 104 Armenia 275.73 Square kilometres compare
  6. 105 Qatar 259.43 Square kilometres compare
  7. 106 Uruguay 259.25 Square kilometres compare

See the full ranking of 978 places →

More environment data for New Zealand

All data for New Zealand →

Frequently asked questions

What is land cover and land cover change — gain of artificial surfaces in New Zealand?
Land cover and land cover change — gain of artificial surfaces in New Zealand was 276.28 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 New Zealand?
The highest recorded value was 276.28 Square kilometres in 2022.
What is the lowest land cover and land cover change — gain of artificial surfaces recorded in New Zealand?
The lowest recorded value was 100.72 Square kilometres in 2005.
How does New Zealand rank for land cover and land cover change — gain of artificial surfaces?
New Zealand ranks 103rd out of 164 countries with data for 2022.
Is land cover and land cover change — gain of artificial surfaces rising or falling in New Zealand?
Over the last ten years it is up 91.2%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
Where does this New Zealand 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 New Zealand. Statizoid, drawing on Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Retrieved 10 September 2026, from https://environment.statizoid.com/stat/land-cover-and-land-cover-change-gain-of-artificial-surfaces/new-zealand/

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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