Forest fires — Burned Area in Eastern Africa

Eastern Africa: Forest fires — Burned Area was 6.22 million ha in 2024. ▲ Rising

Latest (2024)
6.22 million ha
Change on year
up 6.9%
Rank
9th
of 31 groups
All-time high
10.85 million ha
in 2010
All-time low
778,134 ha
in 2000
Years of data
35
1990–2024

Forest fires — Burned Area in Eastern Africa, 1990–2024

02.5M5.0M7.5M10.0M1990200720241990: 7.3M ha1991: 7.3M ha1992: 7.3M ha1993: 7.3M ha1994: 7.3M ha1995: 7.3M ha1996: 1.2M ha1997: 1.3M ha1998: 1.4M ha1999: 1.4M ha2000: 778.1k ha2001: 6.6M ha2002: 5.6M ha2003: 8.1M ha2004: 8.3M ha2005: 9.4M ha2006: 7.9M ha2007: 8.2M ha2008: 9.1M ha2009: 8.3M ha2010: 10.8M ha2011: 9.6M ha2012: 10.5M ha2013: 9.9M ha2014: 9.7M ha2015: 10.5M ha2016: 10.7M ha2017: 10.5M ha2018: 9.9M ha2019: 9.0M ha2020: 8.4M ha2021: 8.0M ha2022: 7.2M ha2023: 5.8M ha2024: 6.2M ha

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

Analysis

The most recent figure for forest fires — burned area in Eastern Africa is 6.22 million ha, measured in 2024.

That represents a change of up 6.9% on the previous year and down 35.7% over ten years.

Over the whole period, forest fires — burned area in Eastern Africa peaked at 10.85 million ha in 2010 and was at its lowest, 778,134 ha, in 2000.

Eastern Africa ranks 9th of 31 groups on this measure, in the middle of the range.

The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 35 years of available data.

Forest fires — Burned Area in Eastern Africa, year by year

Annual values for Forest fires — Burned Area in Eastern Africa, 1990 to 2024.
Year ha Change
1990 7.27 million ha
1991 7.27 million ha +0.0%
1992 7.27 million ha +0.0%
1993 7.27 million ha +0.0%
1994 7.27 million ha +0.0%
1995 7.27 million ha +0.0%
1996 1.20 million ha -83.5%
1997 1.26 million ha +4.9%
1998 1.35 million ha +7.2%
1999 1.36 million ha +0.4%
2000 778,134 ha -42.6%
2001 6.58 million ha +745.3%
2002 5.57 million ha -15.4%
2003 8.08 million ha +45.2%
2004 8.27 million ha +2.3%
2005 9.39 million ha +13.6%
2006 7.87 million ha -16.2%
2007 8.18 million ha +4.0%
2008 9.07 million ha +10.9%
2009 8.26 million ha -8.9%
2010 10.85 million ha +31.3%
2011 9.65 million ha -11.0%
2012 10.53 million ha +9.1%
2013 9.92 million ha -5.8%
2014 9.69 million ha -2.3%
2015 10.50 million ha +8.4%
2016 10.71 million ha +2.0%
2017 10.50 million ha -1.9%
2018 9.86 million ha -6.1%
2019 8.95 million ha -9.2%
2020 8.39 million ha -6.3%
2021 7.97 million ha -5.0%
2022 7.24 million ha -9.2%
2023 5.82 million ha -19.5%
2024 6.22 million ha +6.9%

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1990s 4.88 million ha 1.20 million ha 7.27 million ha 10
2000s 7.20 million ha 778,134 ha 9.39 million ha 10
2010s 10.12 million ha 8.95 million ha 10.85 million ha 10
2020s 7.13 million ha 5.82 million ha 8.39 million ha 5

Countries ranked near Eastern Africa

  1. 6 OECD 1.77 million ha compare
  2. 7 Myanmar 1.29 million ha compare
  3. 8 Russian Federation 723,318 ha compare
  4. 9 Canada 717,855 ha compare
  5. 10 Mexico 557,291 ha compare
  6. 11 India 523,649 ha compare
  7. 12 Cambodia 470,662 ha compare

See the full ranking of 272 places →

More climate change data for Eastern Africa

All data for Eastern Africa →

Frequently asked questions

What is forest fires — burned area in Eastern Africa?
Forest fires — burned area in Eastern Africa was 6.22 million ha in 2024, according to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
What is the highest forest fires — burned area recorded in Eastern Africa?
The highest recorded value was 10.85 million ha in 2010.
What is the lowest forest fires — burned area recorded in Eastern Africa?
The lowest recorded value was 778,134 ha in 2000.
How does Eastern Africa rank for forest fires — burned area?
Eastern Africa ranks 9th out of 31 groups with data for 2024.
Is forest fires — burned area rising or falling in Eastern Africa?
Over the last ten years it is down 35.7%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
Where does this Eastern Africa 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 Eastern Africa. Statizoid, drawing on Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Retrieved 22 August 2026, from https://climate.statizoid.com/stat/forest-fires-burned-area-fao-tier-1/eastern-africa/

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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.