Africa vs OECD: Forest fires — Burned Area
Africa
14.56 million ha
in 2024
OECD
1.77 million ha
in 2024
Africa rank
4th
OECD rank
6th
Forest fires — Burned Area over time
- Africa
- OECD
How they compare
Africa currently reports 14.56 million ha against 1.77 million ha in OECD, a difference of 12.80 million ha.
That makes Africa's figure about 8.2 times OECD's.
Across all 35 years both countries report, Africa has been ahead every year.
Africa ranks 4th and OECD ranks 6th of 31 groups.
Africa has averaged higher in every one of the 4 decades both report.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | Africa | OECD | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 14.44 million ha | 1.88 million ha | 12.56 million ha | Africa |
| 2000s | 18.16 million ha | 1.27 million ha | 16.90 million ha | Africa |
| 2010s | 21.93 million ha | 1.53 million ha | 20.40 million ha | Africa |
| 2020s | 16.36 million ha | 2.27 million ha | 14.09 million ha | Africa |
Averages of every year both report within each decade.
Frequently asked questions
- Which has higher forest fires — burned area, Africa or OECD?
- Africa, at 14.56 million ha against 1.77 million ha in OECD as of 2024.
- What is the difference in forest fires — burned area between Africa and OECD?
- 12.80 million ha, with Africa ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for Africa and OECD?
- 35 years are reported by both, from 1990 to 2024.
- How do Africa and OECD rank globally for forest fires — burned area?
- Africa ranks 4th and OECD ranks 6th of 31 groups.
- Where does this data come from?
- Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, published as Forest fires — Burned Area. Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.
Individual pages
About this data
The FAOSTAT domain on Emissions from Fires consists of estimates of methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O) and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions generated from biomass burning in a range of vegetation types and from fires in organic soils.