Annual area burnt by wildfires in Benin
Benin: Annual area burnt by wildfires was 343,416 hectares in 2026. ▼ Falling
Annual area burnt by wildfires in Benin, 2012–2026
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 in Benin is 343,416 hectares, measured in 2026. That is the lowest value across all 15 years on record.
That represents a change of down 44.9% on the previous year and down 74.2% over ten years.
Over the whole period, annual area burnt by wildfires in Benin peaked at 1.55 million hectares in 2013 and was at its lowest, 343,416 hectares, in 2026.
Benin ranks 48th of 248 countries on this measure, in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 15 years of available data.
Annual area burnt by wildfires in Benin, year by year
| Year | hectares | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2012 | 1.27 million hectares | — |
| 2013 | 1.55 million hectares | +22.2% |
| 2014 | 1.37 million hectares | -11.4% |
| 2015 | 1.26 million hectares | -8.4% |
| 2016 | 1.33 million hectares | +5.8% |
| 2017 | 1.38 million hectares | +4.1% |
| 2018 | 489,603 hectares | -64.6% |
| 2019 | 1.11 million hectares | +126.5% |
| 2020 | 1.04 million hectares | -6.5% |
| 2021 | 1.14 million hectares | +10.0% |
| 2022 | 933,707 hectares | -18.1% |
| 2023 | 742,114 hectares | -20.5% |
| 2024 | 675,778 hectares | -8.9% |
| 2025 | 623,067 hectares | -7.8% |
| 2026 | 343,416 hectares | -44.9% |
Benin compared with similar countries
- Benin's 343,416 hectares is above the median for lower middle income countries, which is 156,215 hectares, 2.2× the median. (47 countries reporting)
- Benin's 343,416 hectares is below the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 506,694 hectares, 68% of the median. (48 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Annual area burnt by wildfires in Benin 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | +126.5% | 489,603 hectares | 1.11 million hectares |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010s | 1.22 million hectares | 489,603 hectares | 1.55 million hectares | 8 |
| 2020s | 785,107 hectares | 343,416 hectares | 1.14 million hectares | 7 |
Countries ranked near Benin
More reference data data for Benin
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 0.1979 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 1.67 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 2.03 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 0.1562 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Agricultural Soils 2.03 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 0.6635 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure Management 0.5244 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 8.56 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 10.71 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 0.8505 (2050)
Frequently asked questions
- What is annual area burnt by wildfires in Benin?
- Annual area burnt by wildfires in Benin was 343,416 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 Benin?
- The highest recorded value was 1.55 million hectares in 2013.
- What is the lowest annual area burnt by wildfires recorded in Benin?
- The lowest recorded value was 343,416 hectares in 2026.
- How does Benin rank for annual area burnt by wildfires?
- Benin ranks 48th out of 248 countries with data for 2026.
- Is annual area burnt by wildfires rising or falling in Benin?
- Over the last ten years it is down 74.2%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Benin 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 18 September 2026.