Land cover and land cover change — Gain of artificial surfaces in United States of America
United States of America: Land cover and land cover change — Gain of artificial surfaces was 50,835 Square kilometres in 2022. ▲ Rising
Land cover and land cover change — Gain of artificial surfaces in United States of America, 2005–2022
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 United States of America is 50,835 Square kilometres, measured in 2022. That is the highest value across all 5 years on record.
That represents a change of up 7.6% on the previous year and up 79.2% over ten years.
Over the whole period, land cover and land cover change — gain of artificial surfaces in United States of America peaked at 50,835 Square kilometres in 2022 and was at its lowest, 15,406 Square kilometres, in 2005.
That places United States of America 3rd out of 164 countries with data for 2022, putting it in the top 10%.
Land cover and land cover change — Gain of artificial surfaces in United States of America, year by year
| Year | Square kilometres | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2005 | 15,406 Square kilometres | — |
| 2010 | 28,370 Square kilometres | +84.1% |
| 2015 | 40,549 Square kilometres | +42.9% |
| 2020 | 47,239 Square kilometres | +16.5% |
| 2022 | 50,835 Square kilometres | +7.6% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 15,406 Square kilometres | 15,406 Square kilometres | 15,406 Square kilometres | 1 |
| 2010s | 34,459 Square kilometres | 28,370 Square kilometres | 40,549 Square kilometres | 2 |
| 2020s | 49,037 Square kilometres | 47,239 Square kilometres | 50,835 Square kilometres | 2 |
Countries ranked near United States of America
More environment data for United States of America
- Historical exposure to drought — Land soil moisture anomaly -2.64 Percentage change (2025)
- Historical exposure to drought — Cropland soil moisture anomaly -2.16 Percentage change (2025)
- Exposure to drought — Land soil moisture anomaly -2.91 Percentage change (2024)
- Exposure to drought — Cropland soil moisture anomaly -3.62 Percentage change (2024)
- Heating Degree Days 6,193 (2024)
- Cooling Degree Days 1,199 (2024)
- Total fisheries production 4.68 million metric tons (2024)
- Capture fisheries production 4.21 million metric tons (2024)
- Aquaculture production 467,617 metric tons (2024)
- Nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions from Waste 9.94 Mt CO2e (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is land cover and land cover change — gain of artificial surfaces in United States of America?
- Land cover and land cover change — gain of artificial surfaces in United States of America was 50,835 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 United States of America?
- The highest recorded value was 50,835 Square kilometres in 2022.
- What is the lowest land cover and land cover change — gain of artificial surfaces recorded in United States of America?
- The lowest recorded value was 15,406 Square kilometres in 2005.
- How does United States of America rank for land cover and land cover change — gain of artificial surfaces?
- United States of America ranks 3rd out of 164 countries with data for 2022.
- Is land cover and land cover change — gain of artificial surfaces rising or falling in United States of America?
- Over the last ten years it is up 79.2%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this United States of America 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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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