Annual area burnt by wildfires in Australia
Australia: Annual area burnt by wildfires was 12.30 million hectares in 2026. ▼ Falling
Annual area burnt by wildfires in Australia, 2012–2026
Source: Global Wildfire Information System (2026) – with minor processing by Our World in Data. Measured in hectares.
Analysis
In 2026, annual area burnt by wildfires in Australia stood at 12.30 million hectares. That is the lowest value across all 15 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is down 65.5% on the previous year and down 46.1% over ten years.
Over the whole period, annual area burnt by wildfires in Australia peaked at 65.30 million hectares in 2012 and was at its lowest, 12.30 million hectares, in 2026.
That places Australia 2nd out of 248 countries with data for 2026, putting it in the top 10%.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 15 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010s | 36.92 million hectares | 22.84 million hectares | 65.30 million hectares | 8 |
| 2020s | 28.96 million hectares | 12.30 million hectares | 54.42 million hectares | 7 |
Countries ranked near Australia
- 1 Democratic Republic of Congo 14.81 million hectares compare
- 3 Angola 8.94 million hectares compare
- 4 South Sudan 6.96 million hectares compare
- 5 Central African Republic 6.02 million hectares compare
More reference data data for Australia
- Spring temperature anomalies -0.4864 °C (2026)
- Summer temperature anomalies 0.8615 °C (2026)
- Temperature anomalies by month 1.13 °C (2026)
- Universal right to vote in practice 2 (2025)
- Autumn temperature anomalies 0.0026 °C (2025)
- Winter temperature anomalies 0.4713 °C (2025)
- Consumer price index 148.46 2010 = 100 (2025)
- Universal right to vote 2 (2025)
- Competitive elections 1 (2025)
- Men's universal right to vote 1 (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is annual area burnt by wildfires in Australia?
- Annual area burnt by wildfires in Australia was 12.30 million hectares in 2026, according to Global Wildfire Information System (2026) – with minor processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest annual area burnt by wildfires recorded in Australia?
- The highest recorded value was 65.30 million hectares in 2012.
- What is the lowest annual area burnt by wildfires recorded in Australia?
- The lowest recorded value was 12.30 million hectares in 2026.
- How does Australia rank for annual area burnt by wildfires?
- Australia ranks 2nd out of 248 countries with data for 2026.
- Is annual area burnt by wildfires rising or falling in Australia?
- Over the last ten years it is down 46.1%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Australia 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. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 15 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Area burnt by wildfires in hectares. The 2026 data is incomplete and was last updated 07 August 2026.