Forest fires — Burned Area in Asia
Asia: Forest fires — Burned Area was 3.77 million ha in 2024. ▲ Rising
Forest fires — Burned Area in Asia, 1990–2024
Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Measured in ha.
Analysis
In 2024, forest fires — burned area in Asia stood at 3.77 million ha.
The figure is down 13.0% on the previous year and down 35.0% over ten years.
Over the whole period, forest fires — burned area in Asia peaked at 8.36 million ha in 2004 and was at its lowest, 1.74 million ha, in 2000.
That places Asia 4th out of 22 groups with data for 2024, putting it in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 35 years of available data.
Forest fires — Burned Area in Asia, year by year
| Year | ha | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1990 | 4.65 million ha | — |
| 1991 | 4.65 million ha | +0.0% |
| 1992 | 4.66 million ha | +0.2% |
| 1993 | 4.66 million ha | +0.0% |
| 1994 | 4.66 million ha | +0.0% |
| 1995 | 4.66 million ha | +0.0% |
| 1996 | 1.76 million ha | -62.3% |
| 1997 | 5.66 million ha | +222.3% |
| 1998 | 5.58 million ha | -1.4% |
| 1999 | 2.61 million ha | -53.3% |
| 2000 | 1.74 million ha | -33.4% |
| 2001 | 1.80 million ha | +3.5% |
| 2002 | 2.95 million ha | +64.2% |
| 2003 | 4.89 million ha | +65.6% |
| 2004 | 8.36 million ha | +70.9% |
| 2005 | 4.92 million ha | -41.1% |
| 2006 | 4.92 million ha | +0.0% |
| 2007 | 7.61 million ha | +54.5% |
| 2008 | 4.02 million ha | -47.2% |
| 2009 | 7.06 million ha | +75.8% |
| 2010 | 6.80 million ha | -3.6% |
| 2011 | 4.11 million ha | -39.6% |
| 2012 | 6.09 million ha | +48.4% |
| 2013 | 4.78 million ha | -21.5% |
| 2014 | 5.80 million ha | +21.4% |
| 2015 | 5.46 million ha | -6.0% |
| 2016 | 4.59 million ha | -15.9% |
| 2017 | 4.36 million ha | -4.9% |
| 2018 | 3.61 million ha | -17.3% |
| 2019 | 4.56 million ha | +26.3% |
| 2020 | 4.91 million ha | +7.6% |
| 2021 | 5.50 million ha | +12.1% |
| 2022 | 2.49 million ha | -54.8% |
| 2023 | 4.33 million ha | +74.4% |
| 2024 | 3.77 million ha | -13.0% |
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Forest fires — Burned Area in Asia changed far more than this series normally does. A large move can be a real event or a change in how the figure was measured — the source note below says who published it.
| Year | Change | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | +222.3% | 1.76 million ha | 5.66 million ha |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 4.36 million ha | 1.76 million ha | 5.66 million ha | 10 |
| 2000s | 4.83 million ha | 1.74 million ha | 8.36 million ha | 10 |
| 2010s | 5.02 million ha | 3.61 million ha | 6.80 million ha | 10 |
| 2020s | 4.20 million ha | 2.49 million ha | 5.50 million ha | 5 |
Countries ranked near Asia
- 1 Brazil 5.28 million ha compare
- 2 Zambia 2.93 million ha compare
- 3 Bolivia (Plurinational State of) 5.92 million ha compare
- 3 Central African Republic 2.42 million ha compare
- 4 Mozambique 2.26 million ha compare
- 5 Angola 1.85 million ha compare
- 5 Democratic Republic of the Congo 3.50 million ha compare
- 6 Lao People's Democratic Republic 481,396 ha compare
- 6 OECD 1.77 million ha compare
- 7 Myanmar 1.29 million ha compare
- 7 United Republic of Tanzania 414,900 ha compare
More climate change data for Asia
- Nutrient nitrogen N (total) — Synthetic fertilizers (Agricultural) 84.05 billion kg (2050)
- Emissions from livestock — Emissions (CO2eq) 2.01 million kt (2050)
- Emissions from livestock — Emissions (CO2eq) from N2O 512,601 kt (2050)
- Emissions from livestock — Emissions (CO2eq) from CH4 1.49 million kt (2050)
- Emissions from livestock — Emissions 1,934 kt (2050)
- Emissions from livestock — Emissions 53,345 kt (2050)
- Emissions from crops — Emissions (CO2eq) 1.12 million kt (2050)
- Emissions from crops — Emissions (CO2eq) from N2O 552,825 kt (2050)
- Emissions from crops — Emissions (CO2eq) from CH4 567,748 kt (2050)
- Emissions from crops — Emissions 2,086 kt (2050)
Frequently asked questions
- What is forest fires — burned area in Asia?
- Forest fires — burned area in Asia was 3.77 million ha in 2024, according to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
- What is the highest forest fires — burned area recorded in Asia?
- The highest recorded value was 8.36 million ha in 2004.
- What is the lowest forest fires — burned area recorded in Asia?
- The lowest recorded value was 1.74 million ha in 2000.
- How does Asia rank for forest fires — burned area?
- Asia ranks 4th out of 22 groups with data for 2024.
- Is forest fires — burned area rising or falling in Asia?
- Over the last ten years it is down 35.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Asia data come from?
- The figures come from Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, published as part of Forest fires — Burned Area. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 35 observations, free to reuse under CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO (FAO).
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.