Forest fires — Burned Area in Brazil

Brazil: Forest fires — Burned Area was 5.28 million ha in 2024. ◆ Volatile

Latest (2024)
5.28 million ha
Change on year
up 235.3%
World rank
1st
of 219 countries
All-time high
5.28 million ha
in 2024
All-time low
237,970 ha
in 2000
Years of data
35
1990–2024

Forest fires — Burned Area in Brazil, 1990–2024

02.0M4.0M6.0M1990200720241990: 2.0M ha1991: 2.0M ha1992: 2.0M ha1993: 2.0M ha1994: 2.0M ha1995: 2.0M ha1996: 972.3k ha1997: 1.2M ha1998: 2.1M ha1999: 1.6M ha2000: 238.0k ha2001: 1.3M ha2002: 2.6M ha2003: 2.3M ha2004: 2.8M ha2005: 3.5M ha2006: 1.5M ha2007: 4.0M ha2008: 1.3M ha2009: 522.1k ha2010: 4.0M ha2011: 946.5k ha2012: 1.9M ha2013: 526.9k ha2014: 1.1M ha2015: 2.2M ha2016: 1.6M ha2017: 2.4M ha2018: 721.5k ha2019: 2.1M ha2020: 3.2M ha2021: 1.6M ha2022: 2.0M ha2023: 1.6M ha2024: 5.3M ha

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

Analysis

In 2024, forest fires — burned area in Brazil stood at 5.28 million ha. That is the highest value across all 35 years on record.

Compared with earlier readings it is up 235.3% on the previous year and up 376.5% over ten years.

Over the whole period, forest fires — burned area in Brazil peaked at 5.28 million ha in 2024 and was at its lowest, 237,970 ha, in 2000.

Brazil ranks 1st of 219 countries on this measure, in the top 10%.

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

Forest fires — Burned Area in Brazil, year by year

Annual values for Forest fires — Burned Area in Brazil, 1990 to 2024.
Year ha Change
1990 1.97 million ha —
1991 1.97 million ha +0.0%
1992 1.97 million ha +0.0%
1993 1.97 million ha +0.0%
1994 1.97 million ha +0.0%
1995 1.97 million ha +0.0%
1996 972,332 ha -50.7%
1997 1.19 million ha +22.2%
1998 2.10 million ha +77.0%
1999 1.61 million ha -23.5%
2000 237,970 ha -85.2%
2001 1.32 million ha +454.4%
2002 2.63 million ha +99.2%
2003 2.34 million ha -11.0%
2004 2.79 million ha +19.1%
2005 3.51 million ha +26.1%
2006 1.53 million ha -56.4%
2007 3.95 million ha +158.0%
2008 1.35 million ha -65.9%
2009 522,126 ha -61.2%
2010 4.01 million ha +668.9%
2011 946,466 ha -76.4%
2012 1.89 million ha +99.5%
2013 526,875 ha -72.1%
2014 1.11 million ha +110.2%
2015 2.16 million ha +95.1%
2016 1.60 million ha -25.8%
2017 2.45 million ha +52.6%
2018 721,452 ha -70.5%
2019 2.07 million ha +187.0%
2020 3.21 million ha +55.0%
2021 1.63 million ha -49.1%
2022 1.97 million ha +20.3%
2023 1.57 million ha -19.9%
2024 5.28 million ha +235.3%

Brazil compared with similar countries

  • Brazil's 5.28 million ha is above the median for upper middle income countries, which is 344.48 ha, 15318.2× the median. (52 countries reporting)
  • Brazil's 5.28 million ha is above the median for Latin America & Caribbean, which is 513.61 ha, 10274.1× the median. (37 countries reporting)

Biggest year-on-year movements

Years where Forest fires — Burned Area in Brazil 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.

YearChange FromTo
2010 +668.9% 522,126 ha 4.01 million ha

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1990s 1.77 million ha 972,332 ha 2.10 million ha 10
2000s 2.02 million ha 237,970 ha 3.95 million ha 10
2010s 1.75 million ha 526,875 ha 4.01 million ha 10
2020s 2.73 million ha 1.57 million ha 5.28 million ha 5

Countries ranked near Brazil

  1. 2 Zambia 2.93 million ha compare
  2. 3 Bolivia (Plurinational State of) 5.92 million ha compare
  3. 3 Central African Republic 2.42 million ha compare
  4. 4 Mozambique 2.26 million ha compare

See the full ranking of 272 places →

More climate change data for Brazil

All data for Brazil →

Frequently asked questions

What is forest fires — burned area in Brazil?
Forest fires — burned area in Brazil was 5.28 million ha in 2024, according to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
What is the highest forest fires — burned area recorded in Brazil?
The highest recorded value was 5.28 million ha in 2024.
What is the lowest forest fires — burned area recorded in Brazil?
The lowest recorded value was 237,970 ha in 2000.
How does Brazil rank for forest fires — burned area?
Brazil ranks 1st out of 219 countries with data for 2024.
Is forest fires — burned area rising or falling in Brazil?
Over the last ten years it is up 376.5%. The long-run trend across the full record is volatile.
Where does this Brazil 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.

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Forest fires — Burned Area in Brazil. Statizoid, drawing on Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Retrieved 27 September 2026, from https://climate.statizoid.com/stat/forest-fires-burned-area-fao-tier-1/brazil/

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About this data

Indicator
Forest fires — Burned Area
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.