Annual area burnt by wildfires in Laos

Laos: Annual area burnt by wildfires was 2.64 million hectares in 2026. ▼ Falling

Latest (2026)
2.64 million hectares
Change on year
up 34.1%
World rank
15th
of 248 countries
All-time high
6.62 million hectares
in 2023
All-time low
1.97 million hectares
in 2025
Years of data
15
2012–2026

Annual area burnt by wildfires in Laos, 2012–2026

2.0M3.0M4.0M5.0M6.0M7.0M2012201920262012: 3.5M hectares2013: 3.6M hectares2014: 4.0M hectares2015: 4.2M hectares2016: 4.0M hectares2017: 2.7M hectares2018: 2.4M hectares2019: 4.4M hectares2020: 4.7M hectares2021: 3.2M hectares2022: 3.1M hectares2023: 6.6M hectares2024: 3.2M hectares2025: 2.0M hectares2026: 2.6M hectares

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

Analysis

Laos recorded 2.64 million hectares for annual area burnt by wildfires in 2026.

That represents a change of up 34.1% on the previous year and down 34.2% over ten years.

Over the whole period, annual area burnt by wildfires in Laos peaked at 6.62 million hectares in 2023 and was at its lowest, 1.97 million hectares, in 2025.

That places Laos 15th 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

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
2010s 3.62 million hectares 2.42 million hectares 4.43 million hectares 8
2020s 3.63 million hectares 1.97 million hectares 6.62 million hectares 7

Countries ranked near Laos

  1. 12 Nigeria 2.81 million hectares compare
  2. 13 Thailand 2.67 million hectares compare
  3. 14 United States 2.65 million hectares compare
  4. 16 China 2.27 million hectares compare
  5. 17 Brazil 2.25 million hectares compare
  6. 18 Canada 2.17 million hectares compare

See the full ranking of 248 places →

More reference data data for Laos

All data for Laos →

Frequently asked questions

What is annual area burnt by wildfires in Laos?
Annual area burnt by wildfires in Laos was 2.64 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 Laos?
The highest recorded value was 6.62 million hectares in 2023.
What is the lowest annual area burnt by wildfires recorded in Laos?
The lowest recorded value was 1.97 million hectares in 2025.
How does Laos rank for annual area burnt by wildfires?
Laos ranks 15th out of 248 countries with data for 2026.
Is annual area burnt by wildfires rising or falling in Laos?
Over the last ten years it is down 34.2%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
Where does this Laos 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

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.