Share of forest area within protected areas in Sweden
Sweden: Share of forest area within protected areas was 8.4% in 2025. ▲ Rising
Share of forest area within protected areas in Sweden, 1990–2025
Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations – processed by Our World in Data. Measured in %.
Analysis
In 2025, share of forest area within protected areas in Sweden stood at 8.4%. That is the highest value across all 10 years on record.
That represents a change of up 10.8% over ten years.
Over the whole period, share of forest area within protected areas in Sweden peaked at 8.4% in 2020 and was at its lowest, 2.6%, in 1990.
Sweden ranks 147th of 197 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 10 years of available data.
Share of forest area within protected areas in Sweden, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1990 | 2.6% | — |
| 2000 | 6.4% | +142.0% |
| 2010 | 7.2% | +13.1% |
| 2015 | 7.6% | +4.8% |
| 2016 | 7.7% | +1.1% |
| 2017 | 7.7% | +1.0% |
| 2018 | 7.7% | +0.0% |
| 2019 | 7.7% | +0.0% |
| 2020 | 8.4% | +8.5% |
| 2025 | 8.4% | +0.0% |
Sweden compared with similar countries
- Sweden's 8.4% is below the median for high income countries, which is 16.0%, 52% of the median. (69 countries reporting)
- Sweden's 8.4% is below the median for Europe & Central Asia, which is 22.7%, 37% of the median. (44 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 2.6% | 2.6% | 2.6% | 1 |
| 2000s | 6.4% | 6.4% | 6.4% | 1 |
| 2010s | 7.6% | 7.2% | 7.7% | 6 |
| 2020s | 8.4% | 8.4% | 8.4% | 2 |
Countries ranked near Sweden
More environment data for Sweden
- Historical exposure to drought — Land soil moisture anomaly 1.1 Percentage change (2025)
- Historical exposure to drought — Cropland soil moisture anomaly -2.12 Percentage change (2025)
- Standard Deviation, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Standard Deviation 0.852 °C (2025)
- Temperature change 2.72 °C (2025)
- Wood-based panels — Production, annual growth rate 0.4367 % change on previous year (2024)
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF (Mt CO2e), annual 2.27 % change on previous year (2024)
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF (Mt CO2e), per unit 0 Mt CO2e per US$ of GDP (2024)
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF (Mt CO2e), per capita 0 Mt CO2e per person (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Agriculture (Mt CO2e), annual growth rate -0.0922 % change on previous year (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is share of forest area within protected areas in Sweden?
- Share of forest area within protected areas in Sweden was 8.4% in 2025, according to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations – processed by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest share of forest area within protected areas recorded in Sweden?
- The highest recorded value was 8.4% in 2020.
- What is the lowest share of forest area within protected areas recorded in Sweden?
- The lowest recorded value was 2.6% in 1990.
- How does Sweden rank for share of forest area within protected areas?
- Sweden ranks 147th out of 197 countries with data for 2025.
- Is share of forest area within protected areas rising or falling in Sweden?
- Over the last ten years it is up 10.8%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Sweden data come from?
- The figures come from Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations – processed by Our World in Data, published as part of Share of forest area within protected areas. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 10 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Proportion of forest area within legally established protected areas (%).