Savanna fires — Burned Area in Congo
Congo: Savanna fires — Burned Area was 3.82 million ha in 2024. ▲ Rising
Savanna fires — Burned Area in Congo, 1990–2024
Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Measured in ha.
Analysis
Congo recorded 3.82 million ha for savanna fires — burned area in 2024. That is the highest value across all 35 years on record.
That represents a change of up 43.3% on the previous year and up 39.4% over ten years.
Over the whole period, savanna fires — burned area in Congo peaked at 3.82 million ha in 2024 and was at its lowest, 717,677 ha, in 2000.
Congo ranks 18th of 221 countries on this measure, in the top 10%.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 35 years of available data.
Savanna fires — Burned Area in Congo, year by year
| Year | ha | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1990 | 2.59 million ha | — |
| 1991 | 2.59 million ha | +0.0% |
| 1992 | 2.59 million ha | +0.0% |
| 1993 | 2.59 million ha | +0.0% |
| 1994 | 2.59 million ha | +0.0% |
| 1995 | 2.59 million ha | +0.0% |
| 1996 | 816,068 ha | -68.5% |
| 1997 | 870,455 ha | +6.7% |
| 1998 | 951,254 ha | +9.3% |
| 1999 | 921,630 ha | -3.1% |
| 2000 | 717,677 ha | -22.1% |
| 2001 | 906,639 ha | +26.3% |
| 2002 | 1.62 million ha | +79.2% |
| 2003 | 2.77 million ha | +70.2% |
| 2004 | 2.86 million ha | +3.4% |
| 2005 | 3.37 million ha | +18.0% |
| 2006 | 3.40 million ha | +0.7% |
| 2007 | 2.93 million ha | -13.9% |
| 2008 | 2.93 million ha | +0.2% |
| 2009 | 2.71 million ha | -7.5% |
| 2010 | 3.21 million ha | +18.3% |
| 2011 | 3.33 million ha | +3.8% |
| 2012 | 3.13 million ha | -6.1% |
| 2013 | 3.33 million ha | +6.4% |
| 2014 | 2.74 million ha | -17.6% |
| 2015 | 3.25 million ha | +18.5% |
| 2016 | 3.27 million ha | +0.8% |
| 2017 | 3.21 million ha | -2.0% |
| 2018 | 3.29 million ha | +2.7% |
| 2019 | 3.26 million ha | -0.9% |
| 2020 | 2.78 million ha | -14.7% |
| 2021 | 2.66 million ha | -4.6% |
| 2022 | 3.40 million ha | +28.0% |
| 2023 | 2.67 million ha | -21.5% |
| 2024 | 3.82 million ha | +43.3% |
Congo compared with similar countries
- Congo's 3.82 million ha is above the median for lower middle income countries, which is 118,811 ha, 32.2× the median. (41 countries reporting)
- Congo's 3.82 million ha is above the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 874,766 ha, 4.4× the median. (44 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Savanna fires — 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | +79.2% | 906,639 ha | 1.62 million ha |
| 2003 | +70.2% | 1.62 million ha | 2.77 million ha |
| 1996 | -68.5% | 2.59 million ha | 816,068 ha |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 1.91 million ha | 816,068 ha | 2.59 million ha | 10 |
| 2000s | 2.42 million ha | 717,677 ha | 3.40 million ha | 10 |
| 2010s | 3.20 million ha | 2.74 million ha | 3.33 million ha | 10 |
| 2020s | 3.07 million ha | 2.66 million ha | 3.82 million ha | 5 |
Countries ranked near Congo
- 15 South Africa 4.33 million ha compare
- 15 Timor-Leste 3,185 ha compare
- 16 Democratic People's Republic of Korea 1,375 ha compare
- 16 Ghana 4.17 million ha compare
- 17 Canada 3.83 million ha compare
- 17 Republic of Moldova 602.6 ha compare
- 18 Micronesia (Federated States of) 0 ha
- 18 Wallis and Futuna Islands 0 ha
- 18 Micronesia 0 ha
- 18 Polynesia 0 ha compare
- 19 Madagascar 3.74 million ha compare
- 20 Nigeria 3.67 million ha compare
- 21 Côte d'Ivoire 1.27 million ha compare
- 21 Senegal 3.38 million 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 savanna fires — burned area in Congo?
- Savanna fires — burned area in Congo was 3.82 million ha in 2024, according to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
- What is the highest savanna fires — burned area recorded in Congo?
- The highest recorded value was 3.82 million ha in 2024.
- What is the lowest savanna fires — burned area recorded in Congo?
- The lowest recorded value was 717,677 ha in 2000.
- How does Congo rank for savanna fires — burned area?
- Congo ranks 18th out of 221 countries with data for 2024.
- Is savanna fires — burned area rising or falling in Congo?
- Over the last ten years it is up 39.4%. 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 Savanna fires — 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.