Brazil vs Democratic Republic of Congo: Annual area burnt by wildfires by region

Brazil
25.09 million hectares
in 2024
Democratic Republic of Congo
33.96 million hectares
in 2024
Brazil rank
5th
Democratic Republic of Congo rank
3rd

Annual area burnt by wildfires by region over time

  • Brazil
  • Democratic Republic of Congo
10.0M20.0M30.0M40.0M200220132024

How they compare

Democratic Republic of Congo currently reports 33.96 million hectares against 25.09 million hectares in Brazil, a difference of 8.88 million hectares.

That makes Democratic Republic of Congo's figure about 1.4 times Brazil's.

The two have swapped places 4 times across 23 shared years of data; in 2002 it was Democratic Republic of Congo ahead.

Brazil ranks 5th and Democratic Republic of Congo ranks 3rd of 225 countries.

Democratic Republic of Congo has averaged higher in every one of the 3 decades both report.

Head to head by decade

Decade Brazil Democratic Republic of Congo Difference Ahead
2000s 19.45 million hectares 35.02 million hectares 15.57 million hectares Democratic Republic of Congo
2010s 18.46 million hectares 33.54 million hectares 15.07 million hectares Democratic Republic of Congo
2020s 17.52 million hectares 32.99 million hectares 15.48 million hectares Democratic Republic of Congo

Averages of every year both report within each decade.

Frequently asked questions

Which has higher annual area burnt by wildfires by region, Brazil or Democratic Republic of Congo?
Democratic Republic of Congo, at 33.96 million hectares against 25.09 million hectares in Brazil as of 2024.
What is the difference in annual area burnt by wildfires by region between Brazil and Democratic Republic of Congo?
8.88 million hectares, with Democratic Republic of Congo ahead.
How many years of comparable data are there for Brazil and Democratic Republic of Congo?
23 years are reported by both, from 2002 to 2024.
How do Brazil and Democratic Republic of Congo rank globally for annual area burnt by wildfires by region?
Brazil ranks 5th and Democratic Republic of Congo ranks 3rd of 225 countries.
Where does this data come from?
Global Wildfire Information System (2026) – with minor processing by Our World in Data, published as Annual area burnt by wildfires by region. Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.

Individual pages

About this data

Indicator
Annual area burnt by wildfires by region
Unit
hectares
Source
Global Wildfire Information System (2026) – with minor processing by Our World in Data
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
225 places, 5,175 data points, 2002–2024
Last refreshed

Total land area burnt by wildfires each year, in hectares, across all land cover types.