Open shrubland — Burned Area in World

World: Open shrubland — Burned Area was 14.49 million ha in 2024. ◆ Volatile

Latest (2024)
14.49 million ha
Change on year
down 72.5%
Rank
1st
of 12 groups
All-time high
62.47 million ha
in 2011
All-time low
6.69 million ha
in 2020
Years of data
35
1990–2024

Open shrubland — Burned Area in World, 1990–2024

020.0M40.0M60.0M1990200720241990: 24.8M ha1991: 24.8M ha1992: 24.8M ha1993: 24.8M ha1994: 24.8M ha1995: 24.8M ha1996: 21.2M ha1997: 20.9M ha1998: 29.0M ha1999: 40.6M ha2000: 48.1M ha2001: 49.8M ha2002: 49.3M ha2003: 10.9M ha2004: 22.5M ha2005: 7.1M ha2006: 26.5M ha2007: 23.1M ha2008: 13.1M ha2009: 10.8M ha2010: 13.3M ha2011: 62.5M ha2012: 52.0M ha2013: 10.9M ha2014: 17.8M ha2015: 18.4M ha2016: 7.4M ha2017: 28.8M ha2018: 23.9M ha2019: 11.4M ha2020: 6.7M ha2021: 14.3M ha2022: 14.2M ha2023: 52.7M ha2024: 14.5M ha

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

Analysis

World recorded 14.49 million ha for open shrubland — burned area in 2024.

The figure is down 72.5% on the previous year and down 18.6% over ten years.

Over the whole period, open shrubland — burned area in World peaked at 62.47 million ha in 2011 and was at its lowest, 6.69 million ha, in 2020.

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

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1990s 26.08 million ha 20.94 million ha 40.65 million ha 10
2000s 26.13 million ha 7.07 million ha 49.80 million ha 10
2010s 24.64 million ha 7.37 million ha 62.47 million ha 10
2020s 20.49 million ha 6.69 million ha 52.71 million ha 5

Countries ranked near World

  1. 1 OECD 11.84 million ha compare
  2. 2 Australia 11.72 million ha compare
  3. 2 Australia and New Zealand 11.72 million ha compare
  4. 4 Russian Federation 1.02 million ha compare

See the full ranking of 270 places →

More climate change data for World

All data for World →

Frequently asked questions

What is open shrubland — burned area in World?
Open shrubland — burned area in World was 14.49 million ha in 2024, according to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
What is the highest open shrubland — burned area recorded in World?
The highest recorded value was 62.47 million ha in 2011.
What is the lowest open shrubland — burned area recorded in World?
The lowest recorded value was 6.69 million ha in 2020.
How does World rank for open shrubland — burned area?
World ranks 1st out of 12 groups with data for 2024.
Is open shrubland — burned area rising or falling in World?
Over the last ten years it is down 18.6%. The long-run trend across the full record is volatile.
Where does this World data come from?
The figures come from Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, published as part of Open shrubland — 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

Open shrubland — Burned Area in World. Statizoid, drawing on Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Retrieved 18 August 2026, from https://climate.statizoid.com/stat/open-shrubland-burned-area-fao-tier-1/world/

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/open-shrubland-burned-area-fao-tier-1/world/">Open shrubland — Burned Area in World</a> — Statizoid

About this data

Indicator
Open shrubland — Burned Area
Unit
ha
Source
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Licence
CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO (FAO)
Coverage
270 places, 9,224 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.