Annual area burnt by wildfires in Iraq

Iraq: Annual area burnt by wildfires was 74,612 hectares in 2026. ▼ Falling

Latest (2026)
74,612 hectares
Change on year
down 64.7%
World rank
71st
of 248 countries
All-time high
778,327 hectares
in 2019
All-time low
74,612 hectares
in 2026
Years of data
15
2012–2026

Annual area burnt by wildfires in Iraq, 2012–2026

0200.0k400.0k600.0k800.0k2012201920262012: 209.8k hectares2013: 198.7k hectares2014: 289.8k hectares2015: 488.8k hectares2016: 441.1k hectares2017: 272.0k hectares2018: 353.8k hectares2019: 778.3k hectares2020: 556.6k hectares2021: 404.8k hectares2022: 302.6k hectares2023: 255.1k hectares2024: 262.3k hectares2025: 211.3k hectares2026: 74.6k hectares

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

Analysis

Iraq recorded 74,612 hectares for annual area burnt by wildfires in 2026. That is the lowest value across all 15 years on record.

That represents a change of down 64.7% on the previous year and down 83.1% over ten years.

Over the whole period, annual area burnt by wildfires in Iraq peaked at 778,327 hectares in 2019 and was at its lowest, 74,612 hectares, in 2026.

Iraq ranks 71st 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.

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
2010s 379,023 hectares 198,679 hectares 778,327 hectares 8
2020s 295,340 hectares 74,612 hectares 556,646 hectares 7

Countries ranked near Iraq

  1. 68 Niger 87,000 hectares compare
  2. 69 Pakistan 80,485 hectares compare
  3. 70 Italy 79,084 hectares compare
  4. 72 Malawi 67,365 hectares compare
  5. 73 Kenya 63,279 hectares compare
  6. 74 Mongolia 61,527 hectares compare

See the full ranking of 248 places →

More reference data data for Iraq

All data for Iraq →

Frequently asked questions

What is annual area burnt by wildfires in Iraq?
Annual area burnt by wildfires in Iraq was 74,612 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 Iraq?
The highest recorded value was 778,327 hectares in 2019.
What is the lowest annual area burnt by wildfires recorded in Iraq?
The lowest recorded value was 74,612 hectares in 2026.
How does Iraq rank for annual area burnt by wildfires?
Iraq ranks 71st out of 248 countries with data for 2026.
Is annual area burnt by wildfires rising or falling in Iraq?
Over the last ten years it is down 83.1%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
Where does this Iraq 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

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About this data

Indicator
Annual area burnt by wildfires
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
248 places, 3,720 data points, 2012–2026
Last refreshed

Area burnt by wildfires in hectares. The 2026 data is incomplete and was last updated 07 August 2026.