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Land use: the German states compared

Calculated from the official ALKIS land-use polygons — i.e. from the actual cadastral geometries, not from statistical estimates. All shares refer to the state area according to the administrative boundaries (VG25). Click “Area” or “Share” to re-sort.

Overview: the four main groups

Every land-use polygon belongs to exactly one of the four ALKIS main groups. Vegetation comprises agriculture, forest and woodland; settlement also includes industry and recreation areas.

#	State	Vegetation ↕	Settlement ↕	Transport ↕	Water bodies ↕
1	Baden-Württemberg	83.2 %	10.1 %	5.6 %	1.1 %
2	Bavaria	85.0 %	7.9 %	4.7 %	1.7 %
3	Berlin	23.0 %	55.8 %	14.7 %	6.5 %
4	Brandenburg	86.2 %	6.9 %	3.5 %	3.5 %
5	Bremen	32.9 %	45.4 %	12.7 %	11.9 %
6	Hamburg	33.1 %	46.7 %	12.4 %	6.4 %
7	Hesse	82.4 %	9.6 %	6.6 %	1.4 %
8	Lower Saxony	83.1 %	9.5 %	5.3 %	1.9 %
9	Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania	85.6 %	5.6 %	3.0 %	4.7 %
10	North Rhine-Westphalia	74.2 %	16.9 %	7.1 %	1.8 %
11	Rhineland-Palatinate	83.1 %	9.0 %	6.5 %	1.4 %
12	Saarland	77.0 %	15.7 %	6.3 %	1.0 %
13	Saxony	82.3 %	10.9 %	4.4 %	2.4 %
14	Saxony-Anhalt	86.2 %	7.7 %	3.8 %	2.2 %
15	Schleswig-Holstein	81.5 %	9.6 %	4.4 %	4.9 %
16	Thuringia	86.6 %	7.8 %	4.4 %	1.2 %

Agriculture · Forest · Residential land · Road transport · Paths and tracks · Industry & commerce · Water bodies · Sports, leisure & recreation · Woodland · Heath, bog & marsh · Rail transport · Open-cast mining, mining & spoil heaps · Wasteland & unvegetated land · Mixed-use area · Special-purpose area · Cemetery · Air transport · Squares · Shipping

Agriculture: which state has the most?

#	State	Area ↕	Share ↕
1	Bavaria	32,255 km²	45.7 %
2	Lower Saxony	27,478 km²	57.6 %
3	North Rhine-Westphalia	15,846 km²	46.5 %
4	Baden-Württemberg	15,786 km²	44.2 %
5	Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania	14,320 km²	61.4 %
6	Brandenburg	13,963 km²	47.0 %
7	Saxony-Anhalt	12,302 km²	59.8 %
8	Schleswig-Holstein	10,718 km²	67.9 %
9	Saxony	9,889 km²	53.5 %
10	Hesse	8,652 km²	41.0 %
11	Thuringia	8,381 km²	51.7 %
12	Rhineland-Palatinate	7,961 km²	40.1 %
13	Saarland	1,017 km²	39.6 %
14	Hamburg	171 km²	22.7 %
15	Bremen	112 km²	27.2 %
16	Berlin	36 km²	4.0 %

Forest: which state has the most?

#	State	Area ↕	Share ↕
1	Bavaria	24,706 km²	35.0 %
2	Baden-Württemberg	13,524 km²	37.9 %
3	Brandenburg	10,483 km²	35.3 %
4	Lower Saxony	10,349 km²	21.7 %
5	Hesse	8,480 km²	40.2 %
6	North Rhine-Westphalia	8,480 km²	24.9 %
7	Rhineland-Palatinate	8,071 km²	40.7 %
8	Thuringia	5,385 km²	33.2 %
9	Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania	4,987 km²	21.4 %
10	Saxony	4,946 km²	26.8 %
11	Saxony-Anhalt	4,671 km²	22.7 %
12	Schleswig-Holstein	1,647 km²	10.4 %
13	Saarland	906 km²	35.2 %
14	Berlin	158 km²	17.7 %
15	Hamburg	42 km²	5.6 %
16	Bremen	6 km²	1.5 %

Residential land: which state has the most?

#	State	Area ↕	Share ↕
1	North Rhine-Westphalia	2,494 km²	7.3 %
2	Bavaria	2,279 km²	3.2 %
3	Lower Saxony	2,116 km²	4.4 %
4	Baden-Württemberg	1,627 km²	4.6 %
5	Hesse	935 km²	4.4 %
6	Saxony	893 km²	4.8 %
7	Rhineland-Palatinate	857 km²	4.3 %
8	Schleswig-Holstein	710 km²	4.5 %
9	Brandenburg	707 km²	2.4 %
10	Saxony-Anhalt	432 km²	2.1 %
11	Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania	422 km²	1.8 %
12	Thuringia	328 km²	2.0 %
13	Berlin	226 km²	25.4 %
14	Saarland	212 km²	8.2 %
15	Hamburg	169 km²	22.4 %
16	Bremen	70 km²	17.1 %

Road transport: which state has the most?

#	State	Area ↕	Share ↕
1	Bavaria	1,766 km²	2.5 %
2	Lower Saxony	1,333 km²	2.8 %
3	North Rhine-Westphalia	1,318 km²	3.9 %
4	Baden-Württemberg	994 km²	2.8 %
5	Hesse	588 km²	2.8 %
6	Brandenburg	564 km²	1.9 %
7	Rhineland-Palatinate	522 km²	2.6 %
8	Saxony	482 km²	2.6 %
9	Schleswig-Holstein	440 km²	2.8 %
10	Saxony-Anhalt	369 km²	1.8 %
11	Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania	363 km²	1.6 %
12	Thuringia	304 km²	1.9 %
13	Saarland	115 km²	4.5 %
14	Berlin	101 km²	11.4 %
15	Hamburg	64 km²	8.5 %
16	Bremen	27 km²	6.7 %

Paths and tracks: which state has the most?

#	State	Area ↕	Share ↕
1	Bavaria	1,287 km²	1.8 %
2	Lower Saxony	965 km²	2.0 %
3	North Rhine-Westphalia	840 km²	2.5 %
4	Baden-Württemberg	827 km²	2.3 %
5	Hesse	686 km²	3.3 %
6	Rhineland-Palatinate	670 km²	3.4 %
7	Thuringia	344 km²	2.1 %
8	Brandenburg	323 km²	1.1 %
9	Saxony-Anhalt	316 km²	1.5 %
10	Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania	237 km²	1.0 %
11	Saxony	198 km²	1.1 %
12	Schleswig-Holstein	182 km²	1.2 %
13	Saarland	26 km²	1.0 %
14	Bremen	11 km²	2.8 %
15	Hamburg	7 km²	0.9 %
16	Berlin	5 km²	0.6 %

Industry & commerce: which state has the most?

#	State	Area ↕	Share ↕
1	North Rhine-Westphalia	1,053 km²	3.1 %
2	Bavaria	1,040 km²	1.5 %
3	Lower Saxony	831 km²	1.7 %
4	Baden-Württemberg	776 km²	2.2 %
5	Brandenburg	416 km²	1.4 %
6	Saxony	379 km²	2.1 %
7	Hesse	356 km²	1.7 %
8	Rhineland-Palatinate	336 km²	1.7 %
9	Saxony-Anhalt	330 km²	1.6 %
10	Thuringia	240 km²	1.5 %
11	Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania	230 km²	1.0 %
12	Schleswig-Holstein	224 km²	1.4 %
13	Saarland	79 km²	3.1 %
14	Hamburg	72 km²	9.5 %
15	Berlin	66 km²	7.3 %
16	Bremen	51 km²	12.3 %

Water bodies: which state has the most?

#	State	Area ↕	Share ↕
1	Bavaria	1,208 km²	1.7 %
2	Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania	1,087 km²	4.7 %
3	Brandenburg	1,040 km²	3.5 %
4	Lower Saxony	917 km²	1.9 %
5	Schleswig-Holstein	776 km²	4.9 %
6	North Rhine-Westphalia	612 km²	1.8 %
7	Saxony-Anhalt	454 km²	2.2 %
8	Saxony	446 km²	2.4 %
9	Baden-Württemberg	394 km²	1.1 %
10	Hesse	288 km²	1.4 %
11	Rhineland-Palatinate	280 km²	1.4 %
12	Thuringia	193 km²	1.2 %
13	Berlin	58 km²	6.5 %
14	Bremen	49 km²	11.9 %
15	Hamburg	48 km²	6.4 %
16	Saarland	27 km²	1.0 %

Sports, leisure & recreation: which state has the most?

#	State	Area ↕	Share ↕
1	North Rhine-Westphalia	869 km²	2.5 %
2	Baden-Württemberg	564 km²	1.6 %
3	Bavaria	563 km²	0.8 %
4	Lower Saxony	544 km²	1.1 %
5	Brandenburg	509 km²	1.7 %
6	Saxony-Anhalt	493 km²	2.4 %
7	Thuringia	392 km²	2.4 %
8	Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania	371 km²	1.6 %
9	Saxony	305 km²	1.7 %
10	Hesse	269 km²	1.3 %
11	Rhineland-Palatinate	237 km²	1.2 %
12	Schleswig-Holstein	205 km²	1.3 %
13	Berlin	119 km²	13.3 %
14	Hamburg	64 km²	8.5 %
15	Bremen	40 km²	9.8 %
16	Saarland	35 km²	1.4 %

Woodland: which state has the most?

#	State	Area ↕	Share ↕
1	Bavaria	951 km²	1.3 %
2	Lower Saxony	680 km²	1.4 %
3	North Rhine-Westphalia	662 km²	1.9 %
4	Saxony-Anhalt	545 km²	2.7 %
5	Brandenburg	502 km²	1.7 %
6	Rhineland-Palatinate	385 km²	1.9 %
7	Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania	245 km²	1.0 %
8	Baden-Württemberg	199 km²	0.6 %
9	Hesse	187 km²	0.9 %
10	Thuringia	146 km²	0.9 %
11	Saxony	113 km²	0.6 %
12	Schleswig-Holstein	91 km²	0.6 %
13	Saarland	52 km²	2.0 %
14	Hamburg	20 km²	2.7 %
15	Bremen	10 km²	2.4 %
16	Berlin	8 km²	0.9 %

Heath, bog & marsh: which state has the most?

#	State	Area ↕	Share ↕
1	Lower Saxony	833 km²	1.7 %
2	Brandenburg	262 km²	0.9 %
3	Saxony-Anhalt	206 km²	1.0 %
4	Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania	192 km²	0.8 %
5	Schleswig-Holstein	162 km²	1.0 %
6	Bavaria	160 km²	0.2 %
7	North Rhine-Westphalia	77 km²	0.2 %
8	Baden-Württemberg	38 km²	0.1 %
9	Saxony	33 km²	0.2 %
10	Thuringia	19 km²	0.1 %
11	Rhineland-Palatinate	12 km²	0.1 %
12	Hesse	8 km²	0.0 %
13	Hamburg	6 km²	0.9 %
14	Bremen	3 km²	0.8 %
15	Berlin	1 km²	0.1 %
16	Saarland	1 km²	0.0 %

Rail transport: which state has the most?

#	State	Area ↕	Share ↕
1	Bavaria	158 km²	0.2 %
2	North Rhine-Westphalia	148 km²	0.4 %
3	Lower Saxony	126 km²	0.3 %
4	Baden-Württemberg	112 km²	0.3 %
5	Saxony	97 km²	0.5 %
6	Brandenburg	91 km²	0.3 %
7	Hesse	75 km²	0.4 %
8	Saxony-Anhalt	68 km²	0.3 %
9	Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania	56 km²	0.2 %
10	Rhineland-Palatinate	52 km²	0.3 %
11	Thuringia	52 km²	0.3 %
12	Schleswig-Holstein	33 km²	0.2 %
13	Berlin	20 km²	2.2 %
14	Saarland	14 km²	0.6 %
15	Hamburg	11 km²	1.4 %
16	Bremen	7 km²	1.8 %

Open-cast mining, mining & spoil heaps: which state has the most?

#	State	Area ↕	Share ↕
1	Saxony	245 km²	1.3 %
2	North Rhine-Westphalia	218 km²	0.6 %
3	Lower Saxony	193 km²	0.4 %
4	Bavaria	154 km²	0.2 %
5	Saxony-Anhalt	104 km²	0.5 %
6	Brandenburg	98 km²	0.3 %
7	Baden-Württemberg	86 km²	0.2 %
8	Hesse	57 km²	0.3 %
9	Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania	55 km²	0.2 %
10	Rhineland-Palatinate	51 km²	0.3 %
11	Thuringia	48 km²	0.3 %
12	Schleswig-Holstein	45 km²	0.3 %
13	Saarland	12 km²	0.4 %
14	Bremen	1 km²	0.1 %
15	Hamburg	0 km²	0.1 %
16	Berlin	0 km²	0.0 %

Wasteland & unvegetated land: which state has the most?

#	State	Area ↕	Share ↕
1	Bavaria	1,909 km²	2.7 %
2	Brandenburg	381 km²	1.3 %
3	Lower Saxony	295 km²	0.6 %
4	Schleswig-Holstein	256 km²	1.6 %
5	North Rhine-Westphalia	235 km²	0.7 %
6	Saxony	223 km²	1.2 %
7	Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania	216 km²	0.9 %
8	Baden-Württemberg	188 km²	0.5 %
9	Thuringia	95 km²	0.6 %
10	Hesse	66 km²	0.3 %
11	Rhineland-Palatinate	63 km²	0.3 %
12	Hamburg	9 km²	1.2 %
13	Saarland	4 km²	0.2 %
14	Bremen	4 km²	1.0 %
15	Saxony-Anhalt	4 km²	0.0 %
16	Berlin	2 km²	0.2 %

Mixed-use area: which state has the most?

#	State	Area ↕	Share ↕
1	Bavaria	1,213 km²	1.7 %
2	North Rhine-Westphalia	721 km²	2.1 %
3	Lower Saxony	623 km²	1.3 %
4	Baden-Württemberg	333 km²	0.9 %
5	Hesse	252 km²	1.2 %
6	Schleswig-Holstein	244 km²	1.5 %
7	Brandenburg	213 km²	0.7 %
8	Thuringia	195 km²	1.2 %
9	Rhineland-Palatinate	181 km²	0.9 %
10	Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania	152 km²	0.7 %
11	Saxony-Anhalt	151 km²	0.7 %
12	Saxony	78 km²	0.4 %
13	Saarland	35 km²	1.4 %
14	Berlin	30 km²	3.4 %
15	Hamburg	16 km²	2.1 %
16	Bremen	8 km²	1.9 %

Special-purpose area: which state has the most?

#	State	Area ↕	Share ↕
1	North Rhine-Westphalia	323 km²	0.9 %
2	Bavaria	297 km²	0.4 %
3	Baden-Württemberg	169 km²	0.5 %
4	Hesse	121 km²	0.6 %
5	Rhineland-Palatinate	107 km²	0.5 %
6	Saxony	89 km²	0.5 %
7	Brandenburg	77 km²	0.3 %
8	Schleswig-Holstein	74 km²	0.5 %
9	Saxony-Anhalt	62 km²	0.3 %
10	Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania	56 km²	0.2 %
11	Thuringia	46 km²	0.3 %
12	Berlin	46 km²	5.1 %
13	Saarland	24 km²	0.9 %
14	Hamburg	23 km²	3.0 %
15	Bremen	14 km²	3.5 %
16	Lower Saxony	0 km²	0.0 %

Cemetery: which state has the most?

#	State	Area ↕	Share ↕
1	North Rhine-Westphalia	89 km²	0.3 %
2	Lower Saxony	42 km²	0.1 %
3	Bavaria	41 km²	0.1 %
4	Baden-Württemberg	37 km²	0.1 %
5	Hesse	29 km²	0.1 %
6	Brandenburg	23 km²	0.1 %
7	Rhineland-Palatinate	22 km²	0.1 %
8	Saxony-Anhalt	18 km²	0.1 %
9	Saxony	18 km²	0.1 %
10	Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania	14 km²	0.1 %
11	Schleswig-Holstein	14 km²	0.1 %
12	Thuringia	11 km²	0.1 %
13	Berlin	11 km²	1.2 %
14	Hamburg	8 km²	1.1 %
15	Saarland	7 km²	0.3 %
16	Bremen	3 km²	0.7 %

Air transport: which state has the most?

#	State	Area ↕	Share ↕
1	Bavaria	50 km²	0.1 %
2	North Rhine-Westphalia	47 km²	0.1 %
3	Lower Saxony	37 km²	0.1 %
4	Brandenburg	32 km²	0.1 %
5	Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania	30 km²	0.1 %
6	Rhineland-Palatinate	30 km²	0.1 %
7	Hesse	28 km²	0.1 %
8	Baden-Württemberg	28 km²	0.1 %
9	Schleswig-Holstein	25 km²	0.2 %
10	Saxony	25 km²	0.1 %
11	Saxony-Anhalt	11 km²	0.1 %
12	Hamburg	9 km²	1.3 %
13	Thuringia	9 km²	0.1 %
14	Bremen	3 km²	0.7 %
15	Saarland	2 km²	0.1 %
16	Berlin	1 km²	0.1 %

Squares: which state has the most?

#	State	Area ↕	Share ↕
1	North Rhine-Westphalia	61 km²	0.2 %
2	Bavaria	59 km²	0.1 %
3	Lower Saxony	41 km²	0.1 %
4	Baden-Württemberg	40 km²	0.1 %
5	Hesse	24 km²	0.1 %
6	Rhineland-Palatinate	18 km²	0.1 %
7	Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania	18 km²	0.1 %
8	Saxony	17 km²	0.1 %
9	Brandenburg	17 km²	0.1 %
10	Saxony-Anhalt	14 km²	0.1 %
11	Schleswig-Holstein	13 km²	0.1 %
12	Thuringia	9 km²	0.1 %
13	Saarland	4 km²	0.2 %
14	Berlin	4 km²	0.4 %
15	Hamburg	2 km²	0.3 %
16	Bremen	1 km²	0.3 %

Shipping: which state has the most?

#	State	Area ↕	Share ↕
1	Lower Saxony	4 km²	0.0 %
2	Schleswig-Holstein	3 km²	0.0 %
3	North Rhine-Westphalia	3 km²	0.0 %
4	Bavaria	2 km²	0.0 %
5	Rhineland-Palatinate	2 km²	0.0 %
6	Saxony-Anhalt	2 km²	0.0 %
7	Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania	2 km²	0.0 %
8	Bremen	2 km²	0.4 %
9	Brandenburg	1 km²	0.0 %
10	Hesse	1 km²	0.0 %
11	Baden-Württemberg	0 km²	0.0 %
12	Berlin	0 km²	0.0 %
13	Hamburg	0 km²	0.0 %
14	Saxony	0 km²	0.0 %
15	Saarland	0 km²	0.0 %

Source: ALKIS land-use data of the state survey agencies, areas as geometry area in EPSG:25832. Data as of 2026-09-06. Figures per state on the respective state page.