Humid tropical forest — Burned Area in Congo
Congo: Humid tropical forest — Burned Area was 164,978 ha in 2024. ▲ Rising
Humid tropical forest — Burned Area in Congo, 1990–2024
Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Measured in ha.
Analysis
Congo recorded 164,978 ha for humid tropical forest — burned area in 2024. That is the highest value across all 35 years on record.
That represents a change of up 271.7% on the previous year and up 629.7% over ten years.
Over the whole period, humid tropical forest — burned area in Congo peaked at 164,978 ha in 2024 and was at its lowest, 14,297 ha, in 2002.
Congo ranks 15th of 218 countries on this measure, in the top 10%.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 35 years of available data.
Humid tropical forest — Burned Area in Congo, year by year
| Year | ha | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1990 | 52,297 ha | — |
| 1991 | 52,297 ha | +0.0% |
| 1992 | 52,297 ha | +0.0% |
| 1993 | 52,297 ha | +0.0% |
| 1994 | 52,297 ha | +0.0% |
| 1995 | 52,297 ha | +0.0% |
| 1996 | 38,010 ha | -27.3% |
| 1997 | 35,610 ha | -6.3% |
| 1998 | 28,688 ha | -19.4% |
| 1999 | 32,149 ha | +12.1% |
| 2000 | 25,466 ha | -20.8% |
| 2001 | 27,567 ha | +8.3% |
| 2002 | 14,297 ha | -48.1% |
| 2003 | 69,987 ha | +389.5% |
| 2004 | 52,720 ha | -24.7% |
| 2005 | 52,485 ha | -0.4% |
| 2006 | 65,158 ha | +24.1% |
| 2007 | 46,630 ha | -28.4% |
| 2008 | 34,898 ha | -25.2% |
| 2009 | 36,180 ha | +3.7% |
| 2010 | 62,337 ha | +72.3% |
| 2011 | 79,112 ha | +26.9% |
| 2012 | 48,852 ha | -38.2% |
| 2013 | 43,104 ha | -11.8% |
| 2014 | 22,610 ha | -47.5% |
| 2015 | 52,720 ha | +133.2% |
| 2016 | 88,088 ha | +67.1% |
| 2017 | 32,205 ha | -63.4% |
| 2018 | 69,539 ha | +115.9% |
| 2019 | 74,091 ha | +6.5% |
| 2020 | 60,285 ha | -18.6% |
| 2021 | 41,651 ha | -30.9% |
| 2022 | 72,808 ha | +74.8% |
| 2023 | 44,386 ha | -39.0% |
| 2024 | 164,978 ha | +271.7% |
Congo compared with similar countries
- Congo's 164,978 ha is above the median for lower middle income countries, which is 42.74 ha, 3860.0× the median. (41 countries reporting)
- Congo's 164,978 ha is above the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 331.37 ha, 497.9× the median. (44 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Humid tropical forest — Burned Area in Congo changed far more than this series normally does. A large move can be a real event or a change in how the figure was measured — the source note below says who published it.
| Year | Change | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | +389.5% | 14,297 ha | 69,987 ha |
| 2024 | +271.7% | 44,386 ha | 164,978 ha |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 44,824 ha | 28,688 ha | 52,297 ha | 10 |
| 2000s | 42,539 ha | 14,297 ha | 69,987 ha | 10 |
| 2010s | 57,266 ha | 22,610 ha | 88,088 ha | 10 |
| 2020s | 76,822 ha | 41,651 ha | 164,978 ha | 5 |
Countries ranked near Congo
- 12 Democratic People's Republic of Korea 0 ha
- 12 India 185,116 ha compare
- 12 Iran (Islamic Republic of) 0 ha
- 12 Micronesia (Federated States of) 0 ha
- 12 Republic of Moldova 0 ha
- 12 Syrian Arab Republic 0 ha
- 12 Timor-Leste 0 ha compare
- 12 Türkiye 0 ha
- 12 Wallis and Futuna Islands 0 ha
- 12 Micronesia 0 ha
- 12 Polynesia 0 ha compare
- 13 OECD 179,293 ha compare
- 14 Mexico 175,141 ha compare
- 15 Caribbean 9,528 ha compare
- 16 Honduras 107,375 ha compare
- 17 Côte d'Ivoire 1,133 ha compare
- 17 Guatemala 106,987 ha compare
- 18 Peru 104,793 ha compare
More climate change data for Congo
- Nutrient nitrogen N (total) — Synthetic fertilizers (Agricultural) 226,333 kg (2050)
- Emissions from livestock — Emissions (CO2eq) 762.73 kt (2050)
- Emissions from livestock — Emissions (CO2eq) from N2O 278.7 kt (2050)
- Emissions from livestock — Emissions (CO2eq) from CH4 484.03 kt (2050)
- Emissions from livestock — Emissions 1.05 kt (2050)
- Emissions from livestock — Emissions 17.29 kt (2050)
- Emissions from crops — Emissions (CO2eq) 13.23 kt (2050)
- Emissions from crops — Emissions (CO2eq) from N2O 6.62 kt (2050)
- Emissions from crops — Emissions (CO2eq) from CH4 6.61 kt (2050)
- Emissions from crops — Emissions 0.025 kt (2050)
Frequently asked questions
- What is humid tropical forest — burned area in Congo?
- Humid tropical forest — burned area in Congo was 164,978 ha in 2024, according to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
- What is the highest humid tropical forest — burned area recorded in Congo?
- The highest recorded value was 164,978 ha in 2024.
- What is the lowest humid tropical forest — burned area recorded in Congo?
- The lowest recorded value was 14,297 ha in 2002.
- How does Congo rank for humid tropical forest — burned area?
- Congo ranks 15th out of 218 countries with data for 2024.
- Is humid tropical forest — burned area rising or falling in Congo?
- Over the last ten years it is up 629.7%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Congo data come from?
- The figures come from Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, published as part of Humid tropical forest — 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.