Statistics Sweden produces yearly statistics on protected nature in collaboration with the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency. A protected area refers to a geographically defined area that is permanently designated, regulated and administered to achieve specific aims and conservation goals. In Sweden, “protected area” is a collective term for protection under Chapter 7 of the Environmental Code and according to many of the nature conservation agreements under the Land Code.

Sweden’s national and official statistics on protected nature contain information on a selection of protected areas under Chapter 7 of the Environmental Code. Information is also presented on protected rivers and nature conservation agreements under the Land Code, Intra-governmental agreements, and forest land covered by land replacement.

Explanations concerning the table Formally protected nature 31/12/2024:

The data refers to areas that applied (that is, for which judgment was final) on 31 December 2024.

Nature reserves, Natura 2000 and nature conservation agreements include areas without restrictions, for example without regulations against forestry.

Areas in Sweden's exclusive economic zone (EEZ) are included in the Natura 2000 protection forms and in totals. Area for Sweden's entire economic zone has been used in calculating the share of Natura 2000 areas and totals. Share for other forms of protection is calculated based on area of Swedish territory, according to the Swedish Land Survey data “Topografi 10”, reference time January 2025.

Proportions and areas cannot be added up because some protection types overlap. Statistics adjusted for overlapping areas are marked with the text “without overlap”.

Nature conservation agreements include the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency’s and the Swedish Forest Agency’s nature conservation agreements, the White-Backed Woodpecker Action Plan, and “ekoparker”. Several agreements do not have end date information available. Among the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency’s agreements in 2024, 102 agreements, comprising 2 332 hectares, had a remaining duration of less than 15 years. There were also 193 “waiting agreements”, comprising 22 114 hectares. These are not included in the statistics in the table above.

Information about the number of areas related to intra-governmental agreements with the Swedish Fortifications Agency was retrieved from “Överenskommelse om skydd av särskilt värdefulla naturskogsområden, Nv Reg. no. 310-167-10 No.” (available in Swedish).