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

OPEC: Land cover and land cover change — Gain of artificial surfaces was 21,519 Square kilometres in 2022. ◆ Volatile

Latest (2022)
21,519 Square kilometres
Change on year
up 23.1%
Rank
50th
of 758 regions
All-time high
21,519 Square kilometres
in 2022
All-time low
3,634 Square kilometres
in 2005
Years of data
5
2005–2022

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

5.0k10.0k15.0k20.0k2005201320222005: 3.6k Square kilometres2010: 7.2k Square kilometres2015: 11.9k Square kilometres2020: 17.5k Square kilometres2022: 21.5k Square kilometres

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

Analysis

OPEC recorded 21,519 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.

Compared with earlier readings it is up 23.1% on the previous year and up 197.0% over ten years.

Over the whole period, land cover and land cover change — gain of artificial surfaces in OPEC peaked at 21,519 Square kilometres in 2022 and was at its lowest, 3,634 Square kilometres, in 2005.

That places OPEC 50th out of 758 regions with data for 2022, putting it in the top 10%.

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

Annual values for Land cover and land cover change — Gain of artificial surfaces in OPEC, 2005 to 2022.
Year Square kilometres Change
2005 3,634 Square kilometres
2010 7,246 Square kilometres +99.4%
2015 11,902 Square kilometres +64.2%
2020 17,476 Square kilometres +46.8%
2022 21,519 Square kilometres +23.1%

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
2000s 3,634 Square kilometres 3,634 Square kilometres 3,634 Square kilometres 1
2010s 9,574 Square kilometres 7,246 Square kilometres 11,902 Square kilometres 2
2020s 19,498 Square kilometres 17,476 Square kilometres 21,519 Square kilometres 2

Countries ranked near OPEC

  1. 47 Morocco 1,055 Square kilometres compare
  2. 48 Turkmenistan 1,036 Square kilometres compare
  3. 49 Austria 1,028 Square kilometres compare
  4. 49 Lesotho 94.68 Square kilometres compare
  5. 50 Bangladesh 1,027 Square kilometres compare
  6. 50 Equatorial Guinea 81.99 Square kilometres compare
  7. 51 Colombia 937.92 Square kilometres compare
  8. 52 Ecuador 867.92 Square kilometres compare
  9. 53 Zambia 861.86 Square kilometres compare

See the full ranking of 978 places →

More environment data for OPEC

All data for OPEC →

Frequently asked questions

What is land cover and land cover change — gain of artificial surfaces in OPEC?
Land cover and land cover change — gain of artificial surfaces in OPEC was 21,519 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 OPEC?
The highest recorded value was 21,519 Square kilometres in 2022.
What is the lowest land cover and land cover change — gain of artificial surfaces recorded in OPEC?
The lowest recorded value was 3,634 Square kilometres in 2005.
How does OPEC rank for land cover and land cover change — gain of artificial surfaces?
OPEC ranks 50th out of 758 regions with data for 2022.
Is land cover and land cover change — gain of artificial surfaces rising or falling in OPEC?
Over the last ten years it is up 197.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is volatile.
Where does this OPEC 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 OPEC. Statizoid, drawing on Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Retrieved 30 August 2026, from https://environment.statizoid.com/stat/land-cover-and-land-cover-change-gain-of-artificial-surfaces/opec/

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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