Forest fires — Emissions in Americas

Americas: Forest fires — Emissions was 1.19 million kt in 2024. ◆ Volatile

Latest (2024)
1.19 million kt
Change on year
up 116.3%
Rank
6th
of 36 groups
All-time high
1.19 million kt
in 2024
All-time low
163,051 kt
in 2009
Years of data
24
2001–2024

Forest fires — Emissions in Americas, 2001–2024

250.0k500.0k750.0k1.0M1.2M2001201220242001: 207.6k kt2002: 423.8k kt2003: 448.1k kt2004: 532.8k kt2005: 541.1k kt2006: 332.9k kt2007: 656.9k kt2008: 283.5k kt2009: 163.1k kt2010: 754.2k kt2011: 263.0k kt2012: 292.4k kt2013: 192.3k kt2014: 172.6k kt2015: 360.2k kt2016: 284.6k kt2017: 380.0k kt2018: 219.9k kt2019: 491.9k kt2020: 587.1k kt2021: 424.3k kt2022: 367.9k kt2023: 549.6k kt2024: 1.2M kt

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

Analysis

In 2024, forest fires — emissions in Americas stood at 1.19 million kt. That is the highest value across all 24 years on record.

Compared with earlier readings it is up 116.3% on the previous year and up 588.5% over ten years.

Over the whole period, forest fires — emissions in Americas peaked at 1.19 million kt in 2024 and was at its lowest, 163,051 kt, in 2009.

Americas ranks 6th of 36 groups on this measure, in the top quarter.

The series is highly variable year to year, so single readings are best treated with caution.

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
2000s 398,873 kt 163,051 kt 656,896 kt 9
2010s 341,138 kt 172,632 kt 754,247 kt 10
2020s 623,485 kt 367,881 kt 1.19 million kt 5

Countries ranked near Americas

  1. 3 Democratic Republic of the Congo 304,772 kt compare
  2. 4 Zambia 254,403 kt compare
  3. 5 Mozambique 187,773 kt compare
  4. 6 Angola 160,510 kt compare
  5. 7 OECD 134,865 kt compare
  6. 8 Myanmar 110,834 kt compare
  7. 9 Russian Federation 49,472 kt compare

See the full ranking of 234 places →

More climate change data for Americas

All data for Americas →

Frequently asked questions

What is forest fires — emissions in Americas?
Forest fires — emissions in Americas was 1.19 million kt in 2024, according to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
What is the highest forest fires — emissions recorded in Americas?
The highest recorded value was 1.19 million kt in 2024.
What is the lowest forest fires — emissions recorded in Americas?
The lowest recorded value was 163,051 kt in 2009.
How does Americas rank for forest fires — emissions?
Americas ranks 6th out of 36 groups with data for 2024.
Is forest fires — emissions rising or falling in Americas?
Over the last ten years it is up 588.5%. The long-run trend across the full record is volatile.
Where does this Americas 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 Americas. Statizoid, drawing on Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Retrieved 16 August 2026, from https://climate.statizoid.com/stat/forest-fires-emissions-co2-fao-tier-1/americas/

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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.