Savanna — Burned Area in South America

South America: Savanna — Burned Area was 16.89 million ha in 2024. ▲ Rising

Latest (2024)
16.89 million ha
Change on year
up 38.8%
Rank
9th
of 31 groups
All-time high
26.42 million ha
in 2007
All-time low
5.33 million ha
in 2000
Years of data
35
1990–2024

Savanna — Burned Area in South America, 1990–2024

5.0M10.0M15.0M20.0M25.0M1990200720241990: 14.4M ha1991: 14.4M ha1992: 14.4M ha1993: 14.4M ha1994: 14.4M ha1995: 14.4M ha1996: 7.4M ha1997: 8.0M ha1998: 13.0M ha1999: 10.8M ha2000: 5.3M ha2001: 14.7M ha2002: 19.5M ha2003: 16.9M ha2004: 18.2M ha2005: 19.7M ha2006: 12.2M ha2007: 26.4M ha2008: 14.3M ha2009: 8.7M ha2010: 25.2M ha2011: 12.1M ha2012: 18.4M ha2013: 9.9M ha2014: 12.7M ha2015: 13.8M ha2016: 13.2M ha2017: 17.0M ha2018: 8.9M ha2019: 15.9M ha2020: 19.5M ha2021: 13.1M ha2022: 13.6M ha2023: 12.2M ha2024: 16.9M ha

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

Analysis

South America recorded 16.89 million ha for savanna — burned area in 2024.

Compared with earlier readings it is up 38.8% on the previous year and up 33.3% over ten years.

Over the whole period, savanna — burned area in South America peaked at 26.42 million ha in 2007 and was at its lowest, 5.33 million ha, in 2000.

That places South America 9th out of 31 groups with data for 2024, putting it in the middle of the range.

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

Savanna — Burned Area in South America, year by year

Annual values for Savanna — Burned Area in South America, 1990 to 2024.
Year ha Change
1990 14.40 million ha
1991 14.40 million ha +0.0%
1992 14.40 million ha +0.0%
1993 14.40 million ha +0.0%
1994 14.40 million ha +0.0%
1995 14.40 million ha +0.0%
1996 7.43 million ha -48.4%
1997 7.95 million ha +7.0%
1998 12.97 million ha +63.2%
1999 10.76 million ha -17.1%
2000 5.33 million ha -50.5%
2001 14.65 million ha +175.1%
2002 19.51 million ha +33.1%
2003 16.95 million ha -13.2%
2004 18.23 million ha +7.6%
2005 19.66 million ha +7.8%
2006 12.24 million ha -37.8%
2007 26.42 million ha +115.9%
2008 14.35 million ha -45.7%
2009 8.71 million ha -39.3%
2010 25.23 million ha +189.8%
2011 12.06 million ha -52.2%
2012 18.43 million ha +52.8%
2013 9.93 million ha -46.1%
2014 12.67 million ha +27.6%
2015 13.78 million ha +8.7%
2016 13.19 million ha -4.3%
2017 16.96 million ha +28.7%
2018 8.89 million ha -47.6%
2019 15.91 million ha +78.9%
2020 19.47 million ha +22.3%
2021 13.10 million ha -32.7%
2022 13.62 million ha +4.0%
2023 12.17 million ha -10.7%
2024 16.89 million ha +38.8%

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1990s 12.55 million ha 7.43 million ha 14.40 million ha 10
2000s 15.60 million ha 5.33 million ha 26.42 million ha 10
2010s 14.70 million ha 8.89 million ha 25.23 million ha 10
2020s 15.05 million ha 12.17 million ha 19.47 million ha 5

Countries ranked near South America

  1. 6 Central African Republic 9.56 million ha compare
  2. 7 Brazil 9.24 million ha compare
  3. 8 OECD 5.03 million ha compare
  4. 9 Russian Federation 2.76 million ha compare
  5. 10 Guinea 2.70 million ha compare
  6. 11 Australia and New Zealand 2.63 million ha compare
  7. 12 Australia 2.63 million ha compare
  8. 12 Türkiye 9,753 ha compare

See the full ranking of 274 places →

More climate change data for South America

All data for South America →

Frequently asked questions

What is savanna — burned area in South America?
Savanna — burned area in South America was 16.89 million ha in 2024, according to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
What is the highest savanna — burned area recorded in South America?
The highest recorded value was 26.42 million ha in 2007.
What is the lowest savanna — burned area recorded in South America?
The lowest recorded value was 5.33 million ha in 2000.
How does South America rank for savanna — burned area?
South America ranks 9th out of 31 groups with data for 2024.
Is savanna — burned area rising or falling in South America?
Over the last ten years it is up 33.3%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
Where does this South America 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 South America. Statizoid, drawing on Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Retrieved 30 August 2026, from https://climate.statizoid.com/stat/savanna-burned-area-fao-tier-1/south-america/

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/south-america/">Savanna — Burned Area in South America</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.