Forest fires — Burned Area — FAO TIER 1 in Australia

Australia: Forest fires — Burned Area — FAO TIER 1 was 125,716 ha in 2024. ◆ Volatile

Latest (2024)
125,716 ha
Change on year
down 21.8%
World rank
25th
of 236 countries
All-time high
3.28 million ha
in 2019
All-time low
65,246 ha
in 2021
Years of data
35
1990–2024

Forest fires — Burned Area — FAO TIER 1 in Australia, 1990–2024

01.0M2.0M3.0M1990200720241990: 542.2k ha1991: 542.2k ha1992: 542.2k ha1993: 542.2k ha1994: 542.2k ha1995: 542.2k ha1996: 541.1k ha1997: 810.3k ha1998: 629.1k ha1999: 819.2k ha2000: 311.1k ha2001: 494.5k ha2002: 743.9k ha2003: 1.2M ha2004: 131.1k ha2005: 115.6k ha2006: 958.6k ha2007: 359.8k ha2008: 68.9k ha2009: 558.0k ha2010: 88.4k ha2011: 207.3k ha2012: 321.8k ha2013: 493.4k ha2014: 362.1k ha2015: 227.8k ha2016: 295.0k ha2017: 187.0k ha2018: 316.7k ha2019: 3.3M ha2020: 1.8M ha2021: 65.2k ha2022: 67.8k ha2023: 160.7k ha2024: 125.7k ha

Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Measured in ha.

Analysis

In 2024, forest fires — burned area — fao tier 1 in Australia stood at 125,716 ha.

That represents a change of down 21.8% on the previous year and down 65.3% over ten years.

Over the whole period, forest fires — burned area — fao tier 1 in Australia peaked at 3.28 million ha in 2019 and was at its lowest, 65,246 ha, in 2021.

That places Australia 25th out of 236 countries with data for 2024, putting it in the top quarter.

The series is highly variable year to year, so single readings are best treated with caution.

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1990s 605,312 ha 541,108 ha 819,168 ha 10
2000s 491,890 ha 68,907 ha 1.18 million ha 10
2010s 578,161 ha 88,446 ha 3.28 million ha 10
2020s 444,918 ha 65,246 ha 1.81 million ha 5

Countries ranked near Australia

  1. 22 Congo 165,085 ha compare
  2. 23 Ethiopia 140,455 ha compare
  3. 24 Australia and New Zealand 126,361 ha compare
  4. 26 Madagascar 116,407 ha compare
  5. 27 Guatemala 115,586 ha compare
  6. 28 Honduras 115,054 ha compare

See the full ranking of 272 places →

More climate change data for Australia

All data for Australia →

Frequently asked questions

What is forest fires — burned area — fao tier 1 in Australia?
Forest fires — burned area — fao tier 1 in Australia was 125,716 ha in 2024, according to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
What is the highest forest fires — burned area — fao tier 1 recorded in Australia?
The highest recorded value was 3.28 million ha in 2019.
What is the lowest forest fires — burned area — fao tier 1 recorded in Australia?
The lowest recorded value was 65,246 ha in 2021.
How does Australia rank for forest fires — burned area — fao tier 1?
Australia ranks 25th out of 236 countries with data for 2024.
Is forest fires — burned area — fao tier 1 rising or falling in Australia?
Over the last ten years it is down 65.3%. The long-run trend across the full record is volatile.
Where does this Australia data come from?
The figures come from Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, published as part of Forest fires — Burned Area — FAO TIER 1. 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

Indicator
Forest fires — Burned Area — FAO TIER 1
Unit
ha
Source
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Licence
CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO (FAO)
Coverage
272 places, 9,294 data points, 1990–2024
Last refreshed

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.