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Land use Catalonia Percentage (%)
Forest surface Wood Scrubland Other vegetation Areas without vegetation Cropland Rainfed crops Irrigated crops Urban, urbanisable and infrastructures Total
2022 63.6 35.0 21.9 6.7 4.0 25.6 17.1 8.5 6.8 100.0
2021 63.8 35.0 22.0 6.7 3.6 25.8 17.2 8.6 6.8 100.0
2020 63.8 35.0 22.2 6.6 3.6 25.8 17.3 8.5 6.8 100.0
2019 63.8 35.1 22.1 6.6 3.5 25.9 17.4 8.5 6.8 100.0
2018 63.9 35.0 22.2 6.7 3.4 26.0 17.5 8.4 6.8 100.0
2017 64.0 34.9 22.3 6.9 3.3 25.9 17.5 8.4 6.8 100.0
2016 64.0 34.9 22.3 6.8 3.2 26.0 17.6 8.4 6.7 100.0
2015 64.0 34.9 22.3 6.8 3.3 26.0 17.7 8.3 6.7 100.0
2014 64.0 34.9 22.3 6.8 3.2 26.1 17.8 8.3 6.7 100.0
2013 64.2 35.5 21.8 7.0 3.1 26.1 17.8 8.3 6.6 100.0
2012 63.9 39.6 20.4 3.9 3.2 26.3 18.1 8.2 6.6 100.0
2011 63.8 39.5 20.3 4.0 3.5 26.2 18.0 8.2 6.5 100.0
2010 63.9 39.0 20.3 4.7 3.5 26.2 18.1 8.2 6.3 100.0
2009 63.9 39.0 20.2 4.7 3.5 26.4 18.3 8.1 6.3 100.0
2008 63.7 38.9 20.3 4.6 3.4 26.7 18.6 8.2 6.2 100.0
2007 63.5 38.4 20.2 5.0 3.5 26.8 18.6 8.1 6.3 100.0
2006 61.7 32.8 15.8 13.1 3.8 28.3 20.1 8.2 6.2 100.0
2005 60.6 31.0 15.4 14.2 4.6 28.6 20.4 8.1 6.1 100.0
2004 59.2 29.2 14.7 15.3 5.5 28.7 20.6 8.2 6.5 100.0
2003 59.1 28.5 14.9 15.7 5.6 28.7 20.7 8.0 6.6 100.0
2002 59.2 28.5 14.8 15.9 5.5 28.6 20.5 8.1 6.7 100.0
2001 59.3 28.4 14.9 16.0 5.3 28.9 20.6 8.3 6.5 100.0
Source:
2001-2019: Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and Food.
2020-2022: Ministry of Climate Action, Food and Rural Agenda.
Note: In 2018 the information on municipal surfaces was updated with the data provided by the ICGC (Cartographic and Geological Institute of Catalonia) published by Idescat.
Land use Spain Percentage (%)
Forest surface Areas without vegetation Cropland Urban, urbanisable and infrastructures Total
2022 .. Confidential data, low reliability or not available .. Confidential data, low reliability or not available .. Confidential data, low reliability or not available .. Confidential data, low reliability or not available .. Confidential data, low reliability or not available
2021 .. Confidential data, low reliability or not available .. Confidential data, low reliability or not available .. Confidential data, low reliability or not available .. Confidential data, low reliability or not available .. Confidential data, low reliability or not available
2020 58.5 .. Confidential data, low reliability or not available 32.9 8.6 100.0
2019 58.3 .. Confidential data, low reliability or not available 33.1 8.6 100.0
2018 58.4 .. Confidential data, low reliability or not available 33.1 8.5 100.0
2017 58.0 .. Confidential data, low reliability or not available 33.3 8.7 100.0
2016 58.0 .. Confidential data, low reliability or not available 33.6 8.4 100.0
2015 57.8 .. Confidential data, low reliability or not available 33.7 8.5 100.0
2014 57.5 .. Confidential data, low reliability or not available 34.0 8.5 100.0
2013 57.4 .. Confidential data, low reliability or not available 33.9 8.7 100.0
2012 56.4 .. Confidential data, low reliability or not available 34.7 8.9 100.0
2011 57.2 .. Confidential data, low reliability or not available 33.7 9.1 100.0
2010 57.3 .. Confidential data, low reliability or not available 34.1 8.7 100.0
2009 57.6 .. Confidential data, low reliability or not available 34.0 8.4 100.0
2008 57.2 .. Confidential data, low reliability or not available 34.2 8.6 100.0
2007 56.9 .. Confidential data, low reliability or not available 34.4 8.6 100.0
2006 56.9 .. Confidential data, low reliability or not available 34.8 8.3 100.0
2005 56.2 .. Confidential data, low reliability or not available 35.3 8.5 100.0
2004 54.7 4.1 36.9 4.4 100.0
2003 54.7 4.2 36.9 4.2 100.0
2002 54.7 4.2 36.9 4.2 100.0
2001 54.0 4.2 37.5 4.2 100.0
Source: Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Environment.
Note: A partir del 2005, les "àrees sense vegetació" estan incloses en el sòl "urbà, urbanitzable i infraestructures".
(..) Confidential data, low reliability or not available.

Last update: November 3, 2023.

Methodological note

Research into the general land distribution in Catalonia summarises the data from the 1-T survey on land areas occupied by crop cultivation, carried out annually by the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries, Food and Natural Environment in each municipality, with the subsequent aggregation of the data to yield the computation per county and for all of Catalonia.

In 2007 improvements were introduced for the production of these statistics, adding new classification criteria based on geographic information tools (SIGPAC), which particularly impacted the classification what is considered other vegetation, which is now largely redistributed as forest or scrubland, while to a lesser degree it meant less area devoted to cultivation. These changes signify that the data are not necessarily comparable to previous years.

Forest land consists of forested areas, occupied by woods and tree farms; woodlands, occupied by shrubland, thickets, brush, heath, bushes, sub-shrubs and forest/shrubland transitional areas; and areas with other vegetation, such as prairies, pastures, grassland, wetland vegetation and barren pasture.

Crop fields consist of parcels of land planted with annual or multi-year species: arable or woody crops, dry-farmed and irrigated land, and land left fallow.

Areas without vegetation, which include bare soils, rocky outcrops, escarpments, rocky ground, gullies, sand banks and beaches, snowfields, lakes, reservoirs and rivers.

Urban areas and infrastructure correspond to land occupied by cities and towns, low-density urban areas, industrial and commercial areas and road networks.

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