Forest fires — Emissions in Africa

Africa: Forest fires — Emissions was 1,790 kt in 2024. ▼ Falling

Latest (2024)
1,790 kt
Change on year
up 7.2%
Rank
2nd
of 46 regions
All-time high
4,029 kt
in 1998
All-time low
1,671 kt
in 2023
Years of data
35
1990–2024

Forest fires — Emissions in Africa, 1990–2024

01.0k2.0k3.0k4.0k1990200720241990: 2.6k kt1991: 2.6k kt1992: 2.6k kt1993: 2.6k kt1994: 2.6k kt1995: 2.6k kt1996: 2.6k kt1997: 3.1k kt1998: 4.0k kt1999: 3.7k kt2000: 2.8k kt2001: 1.9k kt2002: 1.9k kt2003: 2.5k kt2004: 2.4k kt2005: 2.8k kt2006: 2.4k kt2007: 2.5k kt2008: 2.6k kt2009: 2.4k kt2010: 2.9k kt2011: 2.8k kt2012: 2.9k kt2013: 2.7k kt2014: 2.5k kt2015: 2.7k kt2016: 2.8k kt2017: 2.8k kt2018: 2.4k kt2019: 2.5k kt2020: 2.4k kt2021: 2.2k kt2022: 2.0k kt2023: 1.7k kt2024: 1.8k kt

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

Analysis

The most recent figure for forest fires — emissions in Africa is 1,790 kt, measured in 2024.

That represents a change of up 7.2% on the previous year and down 28.3% over ten years.

Over the whole period, forest fires — emissions in Africa peaked at 4,029 kt in 1998 and was at its lowest, 1,671 kt, in 2023.

Africa ranks 2nd of 46 regions on this measure, in the top 10%.

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

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1990s 2,892 kt 2,588 kt 4,029 kt 10
2000s 2,415 kt 1,858 kt 2,775 kt 10
2010s 2,690 kt 2,444 kt 2,889 kt 10
2020s 2,009 kt 1,671 kt 2,362 kt 5

Countries ranked near Africa

  1. 1 Brazil 656.39 kt compare
  2. 2 Zambia 362.76 kt compare
  3. 3 Central African Republic 299.74 kt compare
  4. 4 Mozambique, Republic of 267.75 kt compare
  5. 5 Angola 228.87 kt compare

See the full ranking of 272 places →

More climate change data for Africa

All data for Africa →

Frequently asked questions

What is forest fires — emissions in Africa?
Forest fires — emissions in Africa was 1,790 kt in 2024, according to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
What is the highest forest fires — emissions recorded in Africa?
The highest recorded value was 4,029 kt in 1998.
What is the lowest forest fires — emissions recorded in Africa?
The lowest recorded value was 1,671 kt in 2023.
How does Africa rank for forest fires — emissions?
Africa ranks 2nd out of 46 regions with data for 2024.
Is forest fires — emissions rising or falling in Africa?
Over the last ten years it is down 28.3%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
Where does this Africa data come from?
The figures come from Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, published as part of Forest fires — Emissions (CH4). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

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CSV · JSON — 35 observations, free to reuse under CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO (FAO).

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Forest fires — Emissions in Africa. Statizoid, drawing on Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Retrieved 18 August 2026, from https://climate.statizoid.com/stat/forest-fires-emissions-ch4-fao-tier-1/africa/

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About this data

Indicator
Forest fires — Emissions (CH4)
Unit
kt
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.