Annual area burnt by wildfires by region in Congo
Congo: Annual area burnt by wildfires by region was 3.41 million hectares in 2025. ▲ Rising
Annual area burnt by wildfires by region in Congo, 2002–2025
Source: Global Wildfire Information System (2026) – with minor processing by Our World in Data. Measured in hectares.
Analysis
Congo recorded 3.41 million hectares for annual area burnt by wildfires by region in 2025.
That represents a change of down 24.9% on the previous year and down 7.6% over ten years.
Over the whole period, annual area burnt by wildfires by region in Congo peaked at 4.53 million hectares in 2024 and was at its lowest, 1.73 million hectares, in 2002.
Congo ranks 21st of 225 countries on this measure, in the top 10%.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 24 years of available data.
Annual area burnt by wildfires by region in Congo, year by year
| Year | hectares | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2002 | 1.73 million hectares | — |
| 2003 | 3.19 million hectares | +84.0% |
| 2004 | 3.27 million hectares | +2.4% |
| 2005 | 3.83 million hectares | +17.3% |
| 2006 | 3.88 million hectares | +1.3% |
| 2007 | 3.30 million hectares | -15.0% |
| 2008 | 3.22 million hectares | -2.5% |
| 2009 | 3.09 million hectares | -3.9% |
| 2010 | 3.68 million hectares | +19.1% |
| 2011 | 3.79 million hectares | +3.1% |
| 2012 | 3.53 million hectares | -7.0% |
| 2013 | 3.71 million hectares | +5.0% |
| 2014 | 3.02 million hectares | -18.5% |
| 2015 | 3.68 million hectares | +22.0% |
| 2016 | 3.66 million hectares | -0.6% |
| 2017 | 3.60 million hectares | -1.5% |
| 2018 | 3.78 million hectares | +4.9% |
| 2019 | 3.65 million hectares | -3.5% |
| 2020 | 3.29 million hectares | -9.7% |
| 2021 | 2.94 million hectares | -10.6% |
| 2022 | 3.94 million hectares | +34.0% |
| 2023 | 2.96 million hectares | -24.9% |
| 2024 | 4.53 million hectares | +53.1% |
| 2025 | 3.41 million hectares | -24.9% |
Congo compared with similar countries
- Congo's 3.41 million hectares is above the median for lower middle income countries, which is 283,554 hectares, 12.0× the median. (46 countries reporting)
- Congo's 3.41 million hectares is above the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 1.23 million hectares, 2.8× the median. (48 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Annual area burnt by wildfires by region 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | +84.0% | 1.73 million hectares | 3.19 million hectares |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 3.19 million hectares | 1.73 million hectares | 3.88 million hectares | 8 |
| 2010s | 3.61 million hectares | 3.02 million hectares | 3.79 million hectares | 10 |
| 2020s | 3.51 million hectares | 2.94 million hectares | 4.53 million hectares | 6 |
Countries ranked near Congo
More reference data data for Congo
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 0.0199 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 0.1866 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 0.2108 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 0.0031 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Agricultural Soils 0.2108 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 0.0668 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure Management 0.0724 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 0.9126 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 1.08 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 0.017 (2050)
Frequently asked questions
- What is annual area burnt by wildfires by region in Congo?
- Annual area burnt by wildfires by region in Congo was 3.41 million hectares in 2025, according to Global Wildfire Information System (2026) – with minor processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest annual area burnt by wildfires by region recorded in Congo?
- The highest recorded value was 4.53 million hectares in 2024.
- What is the lowest annual area burnt by wildfires by region recorded in Congo?
- The lowest recorded value was 1.73 million hectares in 2002.
- How does Congo rank for annual area burnt by wildfires by region?
- Congo ranks 21st out of 225 countries with data for 2025.
- Is annual area burnt by wildfires by region rising or falling in Congo?
- Over the last ten years it is down 7.6%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Congo data come from?
- The figures come from Global Wildfire Information System (2026) – with minor processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Annual area burnt by wildfires by region. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
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CSV · JSON — 24 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Total land area burnt by wildfires each year, in hectares, across all land cover types.