In the period 2013-2022, the area of nature and forest areas decreased by 158 square kilometers, approximately 2.5%.
That is comparable to 1.5 times the area of The Hague. Nature and forest areas mainly changed into built-up and agricultural areas.
The amount of built-up area, land for housing, industry and infrastructure has increased by 277 square kilometers (3.4%). This increase has been at the expense of natural and agricultural ecosystems.
However, new nature and forest areas also emerged from mainly agricultural areas. But on balance, more nature and forest areas have been converted into built-up and agricultural areas than the other way around.
In 2022, more than 45% of the surface area of the Netherlands was agricultural area. More than a quarter (10.7 thousand square kilometers) of the Netherlands consists of arable and horticultural areas.
Nature and forest areas are the smallest main group with almost 16% of the land area. Within this, forest areas are the most common nature reserves. Built-up areas will cover more than 20% of the total area of the Netherlands in 2022.
Source: Natural capital accounts of Statistics Netherlands.
