Forest fires — Emissions in Africa

Africa: Forest fires — Emissions was 1.26 million kt in 2024. ▼ Falling

Latest (2024)
1.26 million kt
Change on year
up 7.2%
Rank
2nd
of 44 regions
All-time high
2.03 million kt
in 2010
All-time low
1.17 million kt
in 2023
Years of data
24
2001–2024

Forest fires — Emissions in Africa, 2001–2024

0500.0k1.0M1.5M2.0M2001201220242001: 1.3M kt2002: 1.3M kt2003: 1.8M kt2004: 1.7M kt2005: 1.9M kt2006: 1.7M kt2007: 1.7M kt2008: 1.8M kt2009: 1.7M kt2010: 2.0M kt2011: 2.0M kt2012: 2.0M kt2013: 1.9M kt2014: 1.8M kt2015: 1.9M kt2016: 1.9M kt2017: 1.9M kt2018: 1.7M kt2019: 1.8M kt2020: 1.7M kt2021: 1.6M kt2022: 1.4M kt2023: 1.2M kt2024: 1.3M kt

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

Analysis

In 2024, forest fires — emissions in Africa stood at 1.26 million kt.

Compared with earlier readings it is 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 2.03 million kt in 2010 and was at its lowest, 1.17 million kt, in 2023.

Africa ranks 2nd of 44 regions on this measure, in the top 10%.

The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 24 years of available data.

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
2000s 1.67 million kt 1.30 million kt 1.94 million kt 9
2010s 1.89 million kt 1.71 million kt 2.03 million kt 10
2020s 1.41 million kt 1.17 million kt 1.66 million kt 5

Countries ranked near Africa

  1. 1 Brazil 460,333 kt compare
  2. 2 Zambia 254,403 kt compare
  3. 3 Central African Republic 210,211 kt compare
  4. 4 Mozambique, Republic of 187,773 kt compare
  5. 5 Angola 160,510 kt compare

See the full ranking of 234 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 1.26 million 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 2.03 million kt in 2010.
What is the lowest forest fires — emissions recorded in Africa?
The lowest recorded value was 1.17 million kt in 2023.
How does Africa rank for forest fires — emissions?
Africa ranks 2nd out of 44 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 (CO2). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

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CSV · JSON — 24 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-co2-fao-tier-1/africa/

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About this data

Indicator
Forest fires — Emissions (CO2)
Unit
kt
Source
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Licence
CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO (FAO)
Coverage
234 places, 5,513 data points, 2001–2024
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.