Canada vs South America: Forest fires — Burned Area
Canada
717,855 ha
in 2024
South America
11.91 million ha
in 2024
Canada rank
9th
South America rank
7th
Forest fires — Burned Area over time
- Canada
- South America
How they compare
South America currently reports 11.91 million ha against 717,855 ha in Canada, a difference of 11.19 million ha.
That makes South America's figure about 16.6 times Canada's.
Across all 35 years both countries report, South America has been ahead every year.
Canada ranks 9th and South America ranks 7th of 219 countries.
South America has averaged higher in every one of the 4 decades both report.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | Canada | South America | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 526,063 ha | 3.29 million ha | 2.77 million ha | South America |
| 2000s | 122,451 ha | 3.50 million ha | 3.38 million ha | South America |
| 2010s | 296,787 ha | 3.03 million ha | 2.74 million ha | South America |
| 2020s | 851,231 ha | 5.52 million ha | 4.66 million ha | South America |
Averages of every year both report within each decade.
Frequently asked questions
- Which has higher forest fires — burned area, Canada or South America?
- South America, at 11.91 million ha against 717,855 ha in Canada as of 2024.
- What is the difference in forest fires — burned area between Canada and South America?
- 11.19 million ha, with South America ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for Canada and South America?
- 35 years are reported by both, from 1990 to 2024.
- How do Canada and South America rank globally for forest fires — burned area?
- Canada ranks 9th and South America ranks 7th of 219 countries.
- 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.