Grassland — Burned Area in Western Africa

Western Africa: Grassland — Burned Area was 21.26 million ha in 2024. ▲ Rising

Latest (2024)
21.26 million ha
Change on year
up 11.2%
Rank
9th
of 31 groups
All-time high
26.70 million ha
in 2005
All-time low
3.59 million ha
in 1996
Years of data
35
1990–2024

Grassland — Burned Area in Western Africa, 1990–2024

5.0M10.0M15.0M20.0M25.0M1990200720241990: 17.5M ha1991: 17.5M ha1992: 17.5M ha1993: 17.5M ha1994: 17.5M ha1995: 17.5M ha1996: 3.6M ha1997: 4.0M ha1998: 5.3M ha1999: 5.9M ha2000: 5.0M ha2001: 23.4M ha2002: 21.3M ha2003: 19.9M ha2004: 23.8M ha2005: 26.7M ha2006: 24.6M ha2007: 23.4M ha2008: 21.6M ha2009: 18.5M ha2010: 20.7M ha2011: 21.1M ha2012: 17.1M ha2013: 19.2M ha2014: 17.8M ha2015: 15.9M ha2016: 20.9M ha2017: 18.3M ha2018: 14.9M ha2019: 16.6M ha2020: 19.5M ha2021: 19.2M ha2022: 18.8M ha2023: 19.1M ha2024: 21.3M ha

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

Analysis

Western Africa recorded 21.26 million ha for grassland — burned area in 2024.

Compared with earlier readings it is up 11.2% on the previous year and up 19.4% over ten years.

Over the whole period, grassland — burned area in Western Africa peaked at 26.70 million ha in 2005 and was at its lowest, 3.59 million ha, in 1996.

Western Africa ranks 9th of 31 groups on this measure, in the middle of the range.

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

Grassland — Burned Area in Western Africa, year by year

Annual values for Grassland — Burned Area in Western Africa, 1990 to 2024.
Year ha Change
1990 17.50 million ha
1991 17.50 million ha +0.0%
1992 17.50 million ha +0.0%
1993 17.50 million ha +0.0%
1994 17.50 million ha +0.0%
1995 17.50 million ha +0.0%
1996 3.59 million ha -79.5%
1997 4.03 million ha +12.3%
1998 5.33 million ha +32.1%
1999 5.89 million ha +10.7%
2000 4.96 million ha -15.9%
2001 23.37 million ha +371.5%
2002 21.33 million ha -8.7%
2003 19.89 million ha -6.7%
2004 23.80 million ha +19.7%
2005 26.70 million ha +12.2%
2006 24.59 million ha -7.9%
2007 23.43 million ha -4.7%
2008 21.64 million ha -7.6%
2009 18.51 million ha -14.5%
2010 20.74 million ha +12.0%
2011 21.06 million ha +1.5%
2012 17.15 million ha -18.6%
2013 19.17 million ha +11.8%
2014 17.80 million ha -7.1%
2015 15.90 million ha -10.7%
2016 20.93 million ha +31.6%
2017 18.33 million ha -12.5%
2018 14.94 million ha -18.5%
2019 16.55 million ha +10.8%
2020 19.52 million ha +17.9%
2021 19.18 million ha -1.7%
2022 18.83 million ha -1.8%
2023 19.12 million ha +1.5%
2024 21.26 million ha +11.2%

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1990s 12.38 million ha 3.59 million ha 17.50 million ha 10
2000s 20.82 million ha 4.96 million ha 26.70 million ha 10
2010s 18.26 million ha 14.94 million ha 21.06 million ha 10
2020s 19.58 million ha 18.83 million ha 21.26 million ha 5

Countries ranked near Western Africa

  1. 6 South Sudan 8.35 million ha compare
  2. 7 Brazil 6.54 million ha compare
  3. 8 Mali 6.42 million ha compare
  4. 9 Sudan 5.10 million ha compare
  5. 10 Chad 4.49 million ha compare
  6. 11 South Africa 3.83 million ha compare
  7. 12 Zambia 3.59 million ha compare

See the full ranking of 273 places →

More climate change data for Western Africa

All data for Western Africa →

Frequently asked questions

What is grassland — burned area in Western Africa?
Grassland — burned area in Western Africa was 21.26 million ha in 2024, according to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
What is the highest grassland — burned area recorded in Western Africa?
The highest recorded value was 26.70 million ha in 2005.
What is the lowest grassland — burned area recorded in Western Africa?
The lowest recorded value was 3.59 million ha in 1996.
How does Western Africa rank for grassland — burned area?
Western Africa ranks 9th out of 31 groups with data for 2024.
Is grassland — burned area rising or falling in Western Africa?
Over the last ten years it is up 19.4%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
Where does this Western 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).

Share, cite or embed this page

Cite this page

Grassland — Burned Area in Western Africa. Statizoid, drawing on Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Retrieved 28 August 2026, from https://climate.statizoid.com/stat/grassland-burned-area-fao-tier-1/western-africa/

Embed or link this data

Paste this into a page to link back to these figures. The data itself is free to reuse under CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO (FAO); please keep the attribution.

<a href="https://climate.statizoid.com/stat/grassland-burned-area-fao-tier-1/western-africa/">Grassland — Burned Area in Western Africa</a> — Statizoid

About this data

Indicator
Grassland — Burned Area
Unit
ha
Source
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Licence
CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO (FAO)
Coverage
273 places, 9,329 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.