Grassland — Burned Area in South Africa
South Africa: Grassland — Burned Area was 3.83 million ha in 2024. ▲ Rising
Grassland — Burned Area in South Africa, 1990–2024
Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Measured in ha.
Analysis
South Africa recorded 3.83 million ha for grassland — burned area in 2024.
That represents a change of down 7.2% on the previous year and up 17.7% over ten years.
Over the whole period, grassland — burned area in South Africa peaked at 4.31 million ha in 2005 and was at its lowest, 973,611 ha, in 1997.
South Africa ranks 11th of 220 countries on this measure, in the top 10%.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 35 years of available data.
Grassland — Burned Area in South Africa, year by year
| Year | ha | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1990 | 2.72 million ha | — |
| 1991 | 2.72 million ha | +0.0% |
| 1992 | 2.72 million ha | +0.0% |
| 1993 | 2.72 million ha | +0.0% |
| 1994 | 2.72 million ha | +0.0% |
| 1995 | 2.72 million ha | +0.0% |
| 1996 | 1.01 million ha | -63.0% |
| 1997 | 973,611 ha | -3.3% |
| 1998 | 1.06 million ha | +8.4% |
| 1999 | 981,537 ha | -7.0% |
| 2000 | 1.24 million ha | +26.4% |
| 2001 | 3.35 million ha | +169.9% |
| 2002 | 4.03 million ha | +20.3% |
| 2003 | 2.86 million ha | -28.9% |
| 2004 | 2.65 million ha | -7.4% |
| 2005 | 4.31 million ha | +62.5% |
| 2006 | 3.18 million ha | -26.3% |
| 2007 | 3.33 million ha | +4.7% |
| 2008 | 3.42 million ha | +3.0% |
| 2009 | 3.20 million ha | -6.7% |
| 2010 | 3.69 million ha | +15.5% |
| 2011 | 3.53 million ha | -4.3% |
| 2012 | 2.88 million ha | -18.4% |
| 2013 | 3.20 million ha | +11.0% |
| 2014 | 3.25 million ha | +1.7% |
| 2015 | 2.22 million ha | -31.9% |
| 2016 | 1.12 million ha | -49.5% |
| 2017 | 2.34 million ha | +108.8% |
| 2018 | 2.39 million ha | +2.3% |
| 2019 | 2.35 million ha | -1.9% |
| 2020 | 2.46 million ha | +5.0% |
| 2021 | 3.62 million ha | +46.8% |
| 2022 | 2.27 million ha | -37.3% |
| 2023 | 4.13 million ha | +82.2% |
| 2024 | 3.83 million ha | -7.2% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 2.03 million ha | 973,611 ha | 2.72 million ha | 10 |
| 2000s | 3.16 million ha | 1.24 million ha | 4.31 million ha | 10 |
| 2010s | 2.70 million ha | 1.12 million ha | 3.69 million ha | 10 |
| 2020s | 3.26 million ha | 2.27 million ha | 4.13 million ha | 5 |
Countries ranked near South Africa
More climate change data for South Africa
- Emissions from livestock — Emissions (CO2eq) 34,365 kt (2050)
- Emissions from livestock — Emissions (CO2eq) from N2O 11,741 kt (2050)
- Emissions from livestock — Emissions (CO2eq) from CH4 22,624 kt (2050)
- Emissions from livestock — Emissions 44.31 kt (2050)
- Emissions from livestock — Emissions 807.99 kt (2050)
- Emissions from crops — Emissions (CO2eq) 5,495 kt (2050)
- Emissions from crops — Emissions (CO2eq) from N2O 5,119 kt (2050)
- Emissions from crops — Emissions (CO2eq) from CH4 376.6 kt (2050)
- Emissions from crops — Emissions 19.32 kt (2050)
- Emissions from crops — Emissions 13.45 kt (2050)
Frequently asked questions
- What is grassland — burned area in South Africa?
- Grassland — burned area in South Africa was 3.83 million ha in 2024, according to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
- What is the highest grassland — burned area recorded in South Africa?
- The highest recorded value was 4.31 million ha in 2005.
- What is the lowest grassland — burned area recorded in South Africa?
- The lowest recorded value was 973,611 ha in 1997.
- How does South Africa rank for grassland — burned area?
- South Africa ranks 11th out of 220 countries with data for 2024.
- Is grassland — burned area rising or falling in South Africa?
- Over the last ten years it is up 17.7%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this South Africa data come from?
- The figures come from Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, published as part of Grassland — Burned Area. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 35 observations, free to reuse under CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO (FAO).
About this data
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.