Annual area burnt by wildfires by region in Ghana
Ghana: Annual area burnt by wildfires by region was 2.74 million hectares in 2025. ▼ Falling
Annual area burnt by wildfires by region in Ghana, 2002–2025
Source: Global Wildfire Information System (2026) – with minor processing by Our World in Data. Measured in hectares.
Analysis
Ghana recorded 2.74 million hectares for annual area burnt by wildfires by region in 2025. That is the lowest value across all 24 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is down 50.4% on the previous year and down 57.8% over ten years.
Over the whole period, annual area burnt by wildfires by region in Ghana peaked at 8.96 million hectares in 2005 and was at its lowest, 2.74 million hectares, in 2025.
That places Ghana 24th out of 225 countries with data for 2025, putting it in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 24 years of available data.
Annual area burnt by wildfires by region in Ghana, year by year
| Year | hectares | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2002 | 6.50 million hectares | — |
| 2003 | 7.13 million hectares | +9.7% |
| 2004 | 5.45 million hectares | -23.6% |
| 2005 | 8.96 million hectares | +64.5% |
| 2006 | 7.31 million hectares | -18.5% |
| 2007 | 6.34 million hectares | -13.2% |
| 2008 | 6.32 million hectares | -0.3% |
| 2009 | 5.27 million hectares | -16.6% |
| 2010 | 5.71 million hectares | +8.2% |
| 2011 | 7.69 million hectares | +34.8% |
| 2012 | 5.53 million hectares | -28.2% |
| 2013 | 6.61 million hectares | +19.5% |
| 2014 | 6.00 million hectares | -9.2% |
| 2015 | 6.48 million hectares | +7.9% |
| 2016 | 6.20 million hectares | -4.3% |
| 2017 | 6.16 million hectares | -0.7% |
| 2018 | 4.90 million hectares | -20.5% |
| 2019 | 4.77 million hectares | -2.5% |
| 2020 | 6.85 million hectares | +43.6% |
| 2021 | 4.49 million hectares | -34.5% |
| 2022 | 6.60 million hectares | +47.0% |
| 2023 | 4.24 million hectares | -35.7% |
| 2024 | 5.52 million hectares | +30.0% |
| 2025 | 2.74 million hectares | -50.4% |
Ghana compared with similar countries
- Ghana's 2.74 million hectares is above the median for lower middle income countries, which is 283,554 hectares, 9.6× the median. (46 countries reporting)
- Ghana's 2.74 million hectares is above the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 1.23 million hectares, 2.2× the median. (48 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 6.66 million hectares | 5.27 million hectares | 8.96 million hectares | 8 |
| 2010s | 6.00 million hectares | 4.77 million hectares | 7.69 million hectares | 10 |
| 2020s | 5.07 million hectares | 2.74 million hectares | 6.85 million hectares | 6 |
Countries ranked near Ghana
More reference data data for Ghana
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 0.2805 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 1.89 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 2.69 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 0.1989 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Agricultural Soils 2.69 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 0.9405 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure Management 0.9478 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 8.22 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 12.64 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 1.08 (2050)
Frequently asked questions
- What is annual area burnt by wildfires by region in Ghana?
- Annual area burnt by wildfires by region in Ghana was 2.74 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 Ghana?
- The highest recorded value was 8.96 million hectares in 2005.
- What is the lowest annual area burnt by wildfires by region recorded in Ghana?
- The lowest recorded value was 2.74 million hectares in 2025.
- How does Ghana rank for annual area burnt by wildfires by region?
- Ghana ranks 24th out of 225 countries with data for 2025.
- Is annual area burnt by wildfires by region rising or falling in Ghana?
- Over the last ten years it is down 57.8%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Ghana 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.