Forest fires — Burned Area in Democratic Republic of the Congo
Democratic Republic of the Congo: Forest fires — Burned Area was 3.50 million ha in 2024. ▲ Rising
Forest fires — Burned Area in Democratic Republic of the Congo, 1990–2024
Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Measured in ha.
Analysis
Democratic Republic of the Congo recorded 3.50 million ha for forest fires — burned area in 2024.
Compared with earlier readings it is up 2.4% on the previous year and down 26.5% over ten years.
Over the whole period, forest fires — burned area in Democratic Republic of the Congo peaked at 5.72 million ha in 2011 and was at its lowest, 1.94 million ha, in 2000.
That places Democratic Republic of the Congo 5th out of 22 countries 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 Democratic Republic of the Congo, year by year
| Year | ha | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1990 | 4.28 million ha | — |
| 1991 | 4.28 million ha | +0.0% |
| 1992 | 4.28 million ha | +0.0% |
| 1993 | 4.28 million ha | +0.0% |
| 1994 | 4.28 million ha | +0.0% |
| 1995 | 4.28 million ha | +0.0% |
| 1996 | 2.07 million ha | -51.7% |
| 1997 | 2.60 million ha | +26.0% |
| 1998 | 2.68 million ha | +2.7% |
| 1999 | 2.19 million ha | -18.1% |
| 2000 | 1.94 million ha | -11.5% |
| 2001 | 2.98 million ha | +53.4% |
| 2002 | 4.38 million ha | +47.3% |
| 2003 | 5.03 million ha | +14.7% |
| 2004 | 5.31 million ha | +5.5% |
| 2005 | 5.27 million ha | -0.6% |
| 2006 | 5.35 million ha | +1.4% |
| 2007 | 4.48 million ha | -16.1% |
| 2008 | 5.06 million ha | +12.8% |
| 2009 | 5.00 million ha | -1.1% |
| 2010 | 5.33 million ha | +6.6% |
| 2011 | 5.72 million ha | +7.3% |
| 2012 | 5.28 million ha | -7.8% |
| 2013 | 5.19 million ha | -1.8% |
| 2014 | 4.75 million ha | -8.3% |
| 2015 | 4.99 million ha | +4.9% |
| 2016 | 4.96 million ha | -0.6% |
| 2017 | 5.03 million ha | +1.5% |
| 2018 | 4.29 million ha | -14.8% |
| 2019 | 4.81 million ha | +12.0% |
| 2020 | 4.64 million ha | -3.4% |
| 2021 | 4.35 million ha | -6.4% |
| 2022 | 3.64 million ha | -16.2% |
| 2023 | 3.41 million ha | -6.3% |
| 2024 | 3.50 million ha | +2.4% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 3.52 million ha | 2.07 million ha | 4.28 million ha | 10 |
| 2000s | 4.48 million ha | 1.94 million ha | 5.35 million ha | 10 |
| 2010s | 5.03 million ha | 4.29 million ha | 5.72 million ha | 10 |
| 2020s | 3.91 million ha | 3.41 million ha | 4.64 million ha | 5 |
Countries ranked near Democratic Republic of the Congo
- 2 Zambia 2.93 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
- 6 OECD 1.77 million ha compare
- 7 Myanmar 1.29 million ha compare
- 8 Russian Federation 723,318 ha compare
More climate change data for Democratic Republic of the Congo
- Emissions from livestock — Emissions (CO2eq) 5,736 kt (2050)
- Emissions from livestock — Emissions (CO2eq) from N2O 2,458 kt (2050)
- Emissions from livestock — Emissions (CO2eq) from CH4 3,278 kt (2050)
- Emissions from livestock — Emissions 9.27 kt (2050)
- Emissions from livestock — Emissions 117.07 kt (2050)
- Emissions from crops — Emissions (CO2eq) 1,251 kt (2050)
- Emissions from crops — Emissions (CO2eq) from N2O 604.81 kt (2050)
- Emissions from crops — Emissions (CO2eq) from CH4 646.49 kt (2050)
- Emissions from crops — Emissions 2.28 kt (2050)
- Emissions from crops — Emissions 23.09 kt (2050)
Frequently asked questions
- What is forest fires — burned area in Democratic Republic of the Congo?
- Forest fires — burned area in Democratic Republic of the Congo was 3.50 million ha in 2024, according to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
- What is the highest forest fires — burned area recorded in Democratic Republic of the Congo?
- The highest recorded value was 5.72 million ha in 2011.
- What is the lowest forest fires — burned area recorded in Democratic Republic of the Congo?
- The lowest recorded value was 1.94 million ha in 2000.
- How does Democratic Republic of the Congo rank for forest fires — burned area?
- Democratic Republic of the Congo ranks 5th out of 22 countries with data for 2024.
- Is forest fires — burned area rising or falling in Democratic Republic of the Congo?
- Over the last ten years it is down 26.5%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Democratic Republic of the Congo 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.