Land Cover Map 2025 (LCM2025 - UK land cover statistics)
https://doi.org/10.5285/73d80e2c-7546-40d8-a734-92fbc57c14f6
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This dataset is available under the terms of the Open Government Licence
The Land Cover Map 2025 (LCM2025 - UK Land Cover Statistics) dataset summarises the coverage of different land cover types across Great Britain and Northern Ireland, classified into 21 UKCEH land cover classes, based upon Biodiversity Action Plan broad habitats. This data is provided in both .csv and geopackage (vector) formats. Statistics are calculated at country, county, and regional (England only) levels from the Land Cover Map 2025 (LCM2025 - 10 m classified pixels) datasets for Great Britain and Northern Ireland. A full description of this and all UKCEH LCM2025 products are available from the LCM2025 product documentation.
In addition to UKCEH as copyright holders, the Land Cover Map 2025 (LCM2025 - UK Land Cover Statistics) products use digital boundary products and reference maps. The source of the data is the Office for National Statistics and they are licensed under the Open Government Licence v.3.0. They contain OS data © Crown copyright and database right [2024].
In addition to UKCEH as copyright holders, the Land Cover Map 2025 (LCM2025 - UK Land Cover Statistics) products use digital boundary products and reference maps. The source of the data is the Office for National Statistics and they are licensed under the Open Government Licence v.3.0. They contain OS data © Crown copyright and database right [2024].
Publication date: 2026-10-12
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Formats
Comma-separated values (CSV), gpkg
Spatial information
Study area
Spatial representation types
Vector
Tabular (text)
Tabular (text)
Spatial reference system
OSGB 1936 / British National Grid
Spatial resolution
10 metres
Temporal information
Temporal extent
2025-01-01 to 2025-12-31
Provenance & quality
The Land Cover Map 2025 (LCM2025 - UK land cover statistics) is a data set that summarises the land cover extent, as given by LCM2025, for a range of geographical units. The land cover statistics are provided as tabular data in comma separated value (.csv) files, and as spatial data in Geopackage files (.gpkg files) for use in geospatial software.
The Land Cover Map 2025 (LCM2025 - UK land cover statistics) data set is derived from the Land Cover Map 2025 (LCM2025 - 10 m classified pixels) datasets for Great Britain and Northern Ireland, as they provide the highest level of spatial data of the Land Cover Map data products. Summary statistics are calculated at country, county, and regional (England only) levels using the Office for National Statistics boundaries areas to allow comparison with other data sources (further details are available from the product documentation). All regions include land cover extents in m2 and percentage areas. The county and Unified Authority areas include area in hectares, whilst the larger geographies, regions and countries, give values in km2.
Important information regarding land cover change - If comparing LCM2024 and LCM2025 statistics, users should be aware that slightly different methods have been used to generate the recent annual Land Cover Maps. Consequently, changes between land cover maps will include both real changes in land cover and changes due to classification method. This is particularly noticeable currently as the LCM production methods are undergoing an overhaul, to improve accuracy. The intent is then to reprocess the whole LCM time-series to produce a consistent dataset with robust, reliable change data.
The Land Cover Map 2025 (LCM2025 - UK land cover statistics) data set is derived from the Land Cover Map 2025 (LCM2025 - 10 m classified pixels) datasets for Great Britain and Northern Ireland, as they provide the highest level of spatial data of the Land Cover Map data products. Summary statistics are calculated at country, county, and regional (England only) levels using the Office for National Statistics boundaries areas to allow comparison with other data sources (further details are available from the product documentation). All regions include land cover extents in m2 and percentage areas. The county and Unified Authority areas include area in hectares, whilst the larger geographies, regions and countries, give values in km2.
Important information regarding land cover change - If comparing LCM2024 and LCM2025 statistics, users should be aware that slightly different methods have been used to generate the recent annual Land Cover Maps. Consequently, changes between land cover maps will include both real changes in land cover and changes due to classification method. This is particularly noticeable currently as the LCM production methods are undergoing an overhaul, to improve accuracy. The intent is then to reprocess the whole LCM time-series to produce a consistent dataset with robust, reliable change data.
Licensing and constraints
This dataset is available under the terms of the Open Government Licence 
Cite this dataset as:
Rowland, C.S.; O'Neil, A.W.; Hunt, M.L.; Marston, C.G. (2026). Land Cover Map 2025 (LCM2025 - UK land cover statistics). NERC EDS Environmental Information Data Centre. https://doi.org/10.5285/73d80e2c-7546-40d8-a734-92fbc57c14f6
Related
This dataset is included in the following collections
Correspondence/contact details
Other contacts
Publisher
NERC EDS Environmental Information Data Centre
info@eidc.ac.uk
Rights holder
UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology
Custodian
NERC EDS Environmental Information Data Centre
info@eidc.ac.uk
Additional metadata
Keywords
Funding
Natural Environment Research Council Award: NE/Y006208/1