Annual area burnt by wildfires in Iceland
Iceland: Annual area burnt by wildfires was 0 in 2026. ◆ Volatile
Latest (2026)
0
Change on year
down 100.0%
World rank
174th
of 248 countries
All-time high
46,171
in 2024
All-time low
0
in 2017
Years of data
15
2012–2026
Annual area burnt by wildfires in Iceland, 2012–2026
Source: Our World in Data.
Analysis
Iceland recorded 0 for annual area burnt by wildfires in 2026. That is the lowest value across all 15 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is down 100.0% on the previous year and down 100.0% over ten years.
Over the whole period, annual area burnt by wildfires in Iceland peaked at 46,171 in 2024 and was at its lowest, 0, in 2017.
That places Iceland 174th out of 248 countries with data for 2026, putting it in the middle of the range.
The series is highly variable year to year, so single readings are best treated with caution.
Annual area burnt by wildfires in Iceland, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2012 | 58 | — |
| 2013 | 247 | +325.9% |
| 2014 | 25,145 | +10080.2% |
| 2015 | 2,499 | -90.1% |
| 2016 | 71 | -97.2% |
| 2017 | 0 | -100.0% |
| 2018 | 243 | — |
| 2019 | 198 | -18.5% |
| 2020 | 606 | +206.1% |
| 2021 | 30,188 | +4881.5% |
| 2022 | 4,681 | -84.5% |
| 2023 | 10,500 | +124.3% |
| 2024 | 46,171 | +339.7% |
| 2025 | 3,173 | -93.1% |
| 2026 | 0 | -100.0% |
Iceland compared with similar countries
- Iceland's 0 is below the median for high income countries, which is 273. (85 countries reporting)
- Iceland's 0 is below the median for Europe & Central Asia, which is 3,249. (56 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Annual area burnt by wildfires in Iceland 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | +10080.2% | 247 | 25,145 |
| 2021 | +4881.5% | 606 | 30,188 |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010s | 3,558 | 0 | 25,145 | 8 |
| 2020s | 13,617 | 0 | 46,171 | 7 |
Countries ranked near Iceland
- 171 Grenada 159 compare
- 172 Kuwait 143 compare
- 173 Switzerland 75 compare
- 174 Aland Islands 0
- 174 American Samoa 0
- 174 Andorra 0
- 174 Anguilla 0
- 174 Antigua and Barbuda 0 compare
- 174 Aruba 0
- 174 Bahrain 0
- 174 Bermuda 0
- 174 Bonaire Sint Eustatius and Saba 0
- 174 Bouvet Island 0
- 174 British Indian Ocean Territory 0
- 174 British Virgin Islands 0 compare
- 174 Cayman Islands 0 compare
- 174 Christmas Island 0
- 174 Cocos Islands 0
- 174 Cook Islands 0
- 174 Curacao 0 compare
- 174 Cyprus 0 compare
- 174 Dominica 0 compare
- 174 Estonia 0 compare
- 174 Falkland Islands 0 compare
- 174 Faroe Islands 0
- 174 French Polynesia 0
- 174 French Southern Territories 0
- 174 Gibraltar 0
- 174 Guam 0 compare
- 174 Guernsey 0
- 174 Heard Island and McDonald Islands 0
- 174 Hong Kong 0 compare
- 174 Isle of Man 0
- 174 Jersey 0
- 174 Kiribati 0
- 174 Liechtenstein 0
- 174 Luxembourg 0
- 174 Macao 0
- 174 Maldives 0
- 174 Malta 0 compare
- 174 Marshall Islands 0
- 174 Martinique 0 compare
- 174 Mayotte 0 compare
- 174 Micronesia (country) 0 compare
- 174 Monaco 0
- 174 Montserrat 0 compare
- 174 Nauru 0
- 174 Niue 0
- 174 Norfolk Island 0
- 174 Northern Mariana Islands 0 compare
- 174 Pitcairn 0
- 174 Qatar 0 compare
- 174 Saint Barthelemy 0
- 174 Saint Helena 0
- 174 Saint Kitts and Nevis 0 compare
- 174 Saint Lucia 0 compare
- 174 Saint Martin (French Part) 0
- 174 Saint Pierre and Miquelon 0
- 174 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 0 compare
- 174 Samoa 0
- 174 San Marino 0
- 174 Sao Tome and Principe 0 compare
- 174 Seychelles 0
- 174 Singapore 0
- 174 Sint Maarten (Dutch part) 0
- 174 South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands 0
- 174 Svalbard and Jan Mayen 0 compare
- 174 Tokelau 0
- 174 Tonga 0
- 174 Turks and Caicos Islands 0 compare
- 174 Tuvalu 0
- 174 United Arab Emirates 0 compare
- 174 United States Minor Outlying Islands 0 compare
- 174 United States Virgin Islands 0 compare
- 174 Vatican 0
- 174 Wallis and Futuna 0
- 174 Western Sahara 0 compare
More reference data data for Iceland
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 0.0288 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 0.0708 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 0.1854 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 0.0001 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Agricultural Soils 0.1854 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 0.0964 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure Management 0.062 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 0.2576 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 0.7664 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 0.0005 (2050)
Frequently asked questions
- What is annual area burnt by wildfires in Iceland?
- Annual area burnt by wildfires in Iceland was 0 in 2026, according to Our World in Data.
- What is the highest annual area burnt by wildfires recorded in Iceland?
- The highest recorded value was 46,171 in 2024.
- What is the lowest annual area burnt by wildfires recorded in Iceland?
- The lowest recorded value was 0 in 2017.
- How does Iceland rank for annual area burnt by wildfires?
- Iceland ranks 174th out of 248 countries with data for 2026.
- Is annual area burnt by wildfires rising or falling in Iceland?
- Over the last ten years it is down 100.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is volatile.
- Where does this Iceland 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).