Forest fires — Burned Area in Zambia

Zambia: Forest fires — Burned Area was 2.93 million ha in 2024. ▲ Rising

Latest (2024)
2.93 million ha
Change on year
up 26.8%
World rank
2nd
of 214 countries
All-time high
4.41 million ha
in 2015
All-time low
353,022 ha
in 2000
Years of data
35
1990–2024

Forest fires — Burned Area in Zambia, 1990–2024

01.0M2.0M3.0M4.0M1990200720241990: 2.8M ha1991: 2.8M ha1992: 2.8M ha1993: 2.8M ha1994: 2.8M ha1995: 2.8M ha1996: 639.3k ha1997: 615.9k ha1998: 577.6k ha1999: 579.4k ha2000: 353.0k ha2001: 2.0M ha2002: 1.9M ha2003: 3.0M ha2004: 3.3M ha2005: 3.3M ha2006: 2.5M ha2007: 2.8M ha2008: 3.2M ha2009: 2.8M ha2010: 3.9M ha2011: 3.9M ha2012: 3.9M ha2013: 3.7M ha2014: 3.7M ha2015: 4.4M ha2016: 4.2M ha2017: 4.3M ha2018: 4.0M ha2019: 3.9M ha2020: 3.4M ha2021: 2.9M ha2022: 2.7M ha2023: 2.3M ha2024: 2.9M ha

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

Analysis

The most recent figure for forest fires — burned area in Zambia is 2.93 million ha, measured in 2024.

Compared with earlier readings it is up 26.8% on the previous year and down 19.8% over ten years.

Over the whole period, forest fires — burned area in Zambia peaked at 4.41 million ha in 2015 and was at its lowest, 353,022 ha, in 2000.

That places Zambia 2nd out of 214 countries with data for 2024, putting it in the top 10%.

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

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1990s 1.93 million ha 577,558 ha 2.81 million ha 10
2000s 2.50 million ha 353,022 ha 3.26 million ha 10
2010s 3.99 million ha 3.66 million ha 4.41 million ha 10
2020s 2.85 million ha 2.31 million ha 3.39 million ha 5

Countries ranked near Zambia

  1. 1 Brazil 5.28 million ha compare
  2. 3 Central African Republic 2.42 million ha compare
  3. 4 Mozambique, Republic of 2.26 million ha compare
  4. 5 Angola 1.85 million ha compare

See the full ranking of 272 places →

More climate change data for Zambia

All data for Zambia →

Frequently asked questions

What is forest fires — burned area in Zambia?
Forest fires — burned area in Zambia was 2.93 million ha in 2024, according to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
What is the highest forest fires — burned area recorded in Zambia?
The highest recorded value was 4.41 million ha in 2015.
What is the lowest forest fires — burned area recorded in Zambia?
The lowest recorded value was 353,022 ha in 2000.
How does Zambia rank for forest fires — burned area?
Zambia ranks 2nd out of 214 countries with data for 2024.
Is forest fires — burned area rising or falling in Zambia?
Over the last ten years it is down 19.8%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
Where does this Zambia 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 Zambia. Statizoid, drawing on Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Retrieved 18 August 2026, from https://climate.statizoid.com/stat/forest-fires-burned-area-fao-tier-1/zambia/

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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.