Annual area burnt by wildfires in Costa Rica
Costa Rica: Annual area burnt by wildfires was 98,211 in 2026. ▼ Falling
Latest (2026)
98,211
Change on year
up 432.4%
World rank
72nd
of 248 countries
All-time high
173,609
in 2013
All-time low
18,446
in 2025
Years of data
15
2012–2026
Annual area burnt by wildfires in Costa Rica, 2012–2026
Source: Our World in Data.
Analysis
Costa Rica recorded 98,211 for annual area burnt by wildfires in 2026.
That represents a change of up 432.4% on the previous year and down 32.8% over ten years.
Over the whole period, annual area burnt by wildfires in Costa Rica peaked at 173,609 in 2013 and was at its lowest, 18,446, in 2025.
Costa Rica ranks 72nd of 248 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 15 years of available data.
Annual area burnt by wildfires in Costa Rica, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2012 | 93,193 | — |
| 2013 | 173,609 | +86.3% |
| 2014 | 113,979 | -34.3% |
| 2015 | 130,323 | +14.3% |
| 2016 | 146,248 | +12.2% |
| 2017 | 81,968 | -44.0% |
| 2018 | 80,997 | -1.2% |
| 2019 | 128,112 | +58.2% |
| 2020 | 111,750 | -12.8% |
| 2021 | 39,664 | -64.5% |
| 2022 | 127,076 | +220.4% |
| 2023 | 36,295 | -71.4% |
| 2024 | 99,995 | +175.5% |
| 2025 | 18,446 | -81.6% |
| 2026 | 98,211 | +432.4% |
Costa Rica compared with similar countries
- Costa Rica's 98,211 is above the median for high income countries, which is 273, 359.7× the median. (85 countries reporting)
- Costa Rica's 98,211 is above the median for Latin America & Caribbean, which is 20,244, 4.9× the median. (42 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010s | 118,554 | 80,997 | 173,609 | 8 |
| 2020s | 75,920 | 18,446 | 127,076 | 7 |
Countries ranked near Costa Rica
More reference data data for Costa Rica
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 0.2987 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 0.406 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 1.27 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 0.0167 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Agricultural Soils 1.27 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 1 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure Management 0.3161 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 2.24 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 5.91 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 0.0907 (2050)
Frequently asked questions
- What is annual area burnt by wildfires in Costa Rica?
- Annual area burnt by wildfires in Costa Rica was 98,211 in 2026, according to Our World in Data.
- What is the highest annual area burnt by wildfires recorded in Costa Rica?
- The highest recorded value was 173,609 in 2013.
- What is the lowest annual area burnt by wildfires recorded in Costa Rica?
- The lowest recorded value was 18,446 in 2025.
- How does Costa Rica rank for annual area burnt by wildfires?
- Costa Rica ranks 72nd out of 248 countries with data for 2026.
- Is annual area burnt by wildfires rising or falling in Costa Rica?
- Over the last ten years it is down 32.8%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Costa Rica data come from?
- The figures come from 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).