Savanna — Burned Area in Australia

Australia: Savanna — Burned Area was 2.63 million ha in 2024. ▼ Falling

Latest (2024)
2.63 million ha
Change on year
down 43.0%
World rank
12th
of 216 countries
All-time high
12.90 million ha
in 1999
All-time low
2.08 million ha
in 2010
Years of data
35
1990–2024

Savanna — Burned Area in Australia, 1990–2024

2.5M5.0M7.5M10.0M12.5M1990200720241990: 5.7M ha1991: 5.7M ha1992: 5.7M ha1993: 5.7M ha1994: 5.7M ha1995: 5.7M ha1996: 10.4M ha1997: 8.1M ha1998: 9.3M ha1999: 12.9M ha2000: 12.4M ha2001: 5.6M ha2002: 6.9M ha2003: 5.5M ha2004: 4.9M ha2005: 5.3M ha2006: 5.3M ha2007: 3.7M ha2008: 4.2M ha2009: 7.0M ha2010: 2.1M ha2011: 6.6M ha2012: 7.5M ha2013: 4.1M ha2014: 6.1M ha2015: 4.9M ha2016: 3.7M ha2017: 3.2M ha2018: 4.2M ha2019: 4.9M ha2020: 3.4M ha2021: 2.9M ha2022: 2.6M ha2023: 4.6M ha2024: 2.6M ha

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

Analysis

Australia recorded 2.63 million ha for savanna — burned area in 2024.

Compared with earlier readings it is down 43.0% on the previous year and down 56.7% over ten years.

Over the whole period, savanna — burned area in Australia peaked at 12.90 million ha in 1999 and was at its lowest, 2.08 million ha, in 2010.

That places Australia 12th out of 216 countries with data for 2024, putting it in the top 10%.

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

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1990s 7.48 million ha 5.69 million ha 12.90 million ha 10
2000s 6.07 million ha 3.68 million ha 12.41 million ha 10
2010s 4.73 million ha 2.08 million ha 7.53 million ha 10
2020s 3.24 million ha 2.61 million ha 4.62 million ha 5

Countries ranked near Australia

  1. 9 Russian Federation 2.76 million ha compare
  2. 10 Guinea 2.70 million ha compare
  3. 11 Australia and New Zealand 2.63 million ha compare
  4. 13 Ethiopia 2.31 million ha compare
  5. 14 Congo 1.62 million ha compare
  6. 15 Canada 1.52 million ha compare

See the full ranking of 274 places →

More climate change data for Australia

All data for Australia →

Frequently asked questions

What is savanna — burned area in Australia?
Savanna — burned area in Australia was 2.63 million ha in 2024, according to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
What is the highest savanna — burned area recorded in Australia?
The highest recorded value was 12.90 million ha in 1999.
What is the lowest savanna — burned area recorded in Australia?
The lowest recorded value was 2.08 million ha in 2010.
How does Australia rank for savanna — burned area?
Australia ranks 12th out of 216 countries with data for 2024.
Is savanna — burned area rising or falling in Australia?
Over the last ten years it is down 56.7%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
Where does this Australia data come from?
The figures come from Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, published as part of Savanna — 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

Savanna — Burned Area in Australia. Statizoid, drawing on Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Retrieved 20 August 2026, from https://climate.statizoid.com/stat/savanna-burned-area-fao-tier-1/australia/

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/savanna-burned-area-fao-tier-1/australia/">Savanna — Burned Area in Australia</a> — Statizoid

About this data

Indicator
Savanna — Burned Area
Unit
ha
Source
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Licence
CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO (FAO)
Coverage
274 places, 9,364 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.