Annual area burnt by wildfires by region in Uganda
Uganda: Annual area burnt by wildfires by region was 1.80 million hectares in 2025. ▼ Falling
Annual area burnt by wildfires by region in Uganda, 2002–2025
Source: Global Wildfire Information System (2026) – with minor processing by Our World in Data. Measured in hectares.
Analysis
The most recent figure for annual area burnt by wildfires by region in Uganda is 1.80 million hectares, measured in 2025.
The figure is up 7.9% on the previous year and down 26.0% over ten years.
Over the whole period, annual area burnt by wildfires by region in Uganda peaked at 5.58 million hectares in 2005 and was at its lowest, 1.02 million hectares, in 2019.
Uganda ranks 34th of 225 countries on this measure, 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 Uganda, year by year
| Year | hectares | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2002 | 2.71 million hectares | — |
| 2003 | 4.44 million hectares | +63.7% |
| 2004 | 3.18 million hectares | -28.3% |
| 2005 | 5.58 million hectares | +75.4% |
| 2006 | 1.03 million hectares | -81.6% |
| 2007 | 4.50 million hectares | +337.7% |
| 2008 | 3.35 million hectares | -25.5% |
| 2009 | 1.91 million hectares | -42.9% |
| 2010 | 3.31 million hectares | +73.0% |
| 2011 | 1.76 million hectares | -46.8% |
| 2012 | 3.51 million hectares | +99.7% |
| 2013 | 2.68 million hectares | -23.6% |
| 2014 | 2.14 million hectares | -20.2% |
| 2015 | 2.44 million hectares | +13.7% |
| 2016 | 3.52 million hectares | +44.7% |
| 2017 | 2.46 million hectares | -30.2% |
| 2018 | 2.18 million hectares | -11.3% |
| 2019 | 1.02 million hectares | -53.2% |
| 2020 | 2.58 million hectares | +153.0% |
| 2021 | 2.53 million hectares | -2.0% |
| 2022 | 1.99 million hectares | -21.5% |
| 2023 | 1.92 million hectares | -3.3% |
| 2024 | 1.67 million hectares | -13.1% |
| 2025 | 1.80 million hectares | +7.9% |
Uganda compared with similar countries
- Uganda's 1.80 million hectares is above the median for low income countries, which is 582,455 hectares, 3.1× the median. (25 countries reporting)
- Uganda's 1.80 million hectares is above the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 1.23 million hectares, 1.5× the median. (48 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Annual area burnt by wildfires by region in Uganda 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | +337.7% | 1.03 million hectares | 4.50 million hectares |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 3.34 million hectares | 1.03 million hectares | 5.58 million hectares | 8 |
| 2010s | 2.50 million hectares | 1.02 million hectares | 3.52 million hectares | 10 |
| 2020s | 2.08 million hectares | 1.67 million hectares | 2.58 million hectares | 6 |
Countries ranked near Uganda
More reference data data for Uganda
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 1.36 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 5.95 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 7.86 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 0.4214 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Agricultural Soils 7.86 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 4.57 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure Management 5.13 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 29.65 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 42.22 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 2.29 (2050)
Frequently asked questions
- What is annual area burnt by wildfires by region in Uganda?
- Annual area burnt by wildfires by region in Uganda was 1.80 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 Uganda?
- The highest recorded value was 5.58 million hectares in 2005.
- What is the lowest annual area burnt by wildfires by region recorded in Uganda?
- The lowest recorded value was 1.02 million hectares in 2019.
- How does Uganda rank for annual area burnt by wildfires by region?
- Uganda ranks 34th out of 225 countries with data for 2025.
- Is annual area burnt by wildfires by region rising or falling in Uganda?
- Over the last ten years it is down 26.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Uganda 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.
Download this data
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.