Annual area burnt by wildfires by region in Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe: Annual area burnt by wildfires by region was 1.34 million hectares in 2024. ▼ Falling

Latest (2024)
1.34 million hectares
Change on year
down 38.5%
World rank
39th
of 225 countries
All-time high
4.72 million hectares
in 2010
All-time low
999,880 hectares
in 2020
Years of data
23
2002–2024

Annual area burnt by wildfires by region in Zimbabwe, 2002–2024

1.0M2.0M3.0M4.0M5.0M2002201320242002: 2.4M hectares2003: 2.6M hectares2004: 3.6M hectares2005: 3.3M hectares2006: 3.1M hectares2007: 3.9M hectares2008: 4.5M hectares2009: 4.5M hectares2010: 4.7M hectares2011: 4.7M hectares2012: 3.7M hectares2013: 2.9M hectares2014: 3.1M hectares2015: 3.8M hectares2016: 2.3M hectares2017: 2.5M hectares2018: 2.6M hectares2019: 2.6M hectares2020: 999.9k hectares2021: 1.8M hectares2022: 2.8M hectares2023: 2.2M hectares2024: 1.3M hectares

Source: Global Wildfire Information System (2026) – with minor processing by Our World in Data. Measured in hectares.

Analysis

In 2024, annual area burnt by wildfires by region in Zimbabwe stood at 1.34 million hectares.

The figure is down 38.5% on the previous year and down 56.9% over ten years.

Over the whole period, annual area burnt by wildfires by region in Zimbabwe peaked at 4.72 million hectares in 2010 and was at its lowest, 999,880 hectares, in 2020.

That places Zimbabwe 39th out of 225 countries with data for 2024, putting it in the top quarter.

The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 23 years of available data.

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
2000s 3.48 million hectares 2.35 million hectares 4.48 million hectares 8
2010s 3.29 million hectares 2.28 million hectares 4.72 million hectares 10
2020s 1.82 million hectares 999,880 hectares 2.80 million hectares 5

Countries ranked near Zimbabwe

  1. 36 Uganda 1.67 million hectares compare
  2. 37 Colombia 1.55 million hectares compare
  3. 38 Cote d'Ivoire 1.42 million hectares compare
  4. 40 Ukraine 1.25 million hectares compare
  5. 41 Benin 1.09 million hectares compare
  6. 42 Laos 1.08 million hectares compare

See the full ranking of 225 places →

More reference data data for Zimbabwe

All data for Zimbabwe →

Frequently asked questions

What is annual area burnt by wildfires by region in Zimbabwe?
Annual area burnt by wildfires by region in Zimbabwe was 1.34 million hectares in 2024, 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 Zimbabwe?
The highest recorded value was 4.72 million hectares in 2010.
What is the lowest annual area burnt by wildfires by region recorded in Zimbabwe?
The lowest recorded value was 999,880 hectares in 2020.
How does Zimbabwe rank for annual area burnt by wildfires by region?
Zimbabwe ranks 39th out of 225 countries with data for 2024.
Is annual area burnt by wildfires by region rising or falling in Zimbabwe?
Over the last ten years it is down 56.9%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
Where does this Zimbabwe 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 — 23 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).

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.