Annual area burnt by wildfires in Malawi
Malawi: Annual area burnt by wildfires was 166,377 in 2026. ▼ Falling
Annual area burnt by wildfires in Malawi, 2012–2026
Source: Our World in Data.
Analysis
Malawi recorded 166,377 for annual area burnt by wildfires in 2026. That is the lowest value across all 15 years on record.
The figure is down 66.0% on the previous year and down 84.5% over ten years.
Over the whole period, annual area burnt by wildfires in Malawi peaked at 1.20 million in 2012 and was at its lowest, 166,377, in 2026.
That places Malawi 62nd out of 248 countries with data for 2026, putting it 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 Malawi, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2012 | 1.20 million | — |
| 2013 | 1.08 million | -10.3% |
| 2014 | 941,733 | -12.9% |
| 2015 | 976,728 | +3.7% |
| 2016 | 1.07 million | +9.9% |
| 2017 | 803,434 | -25.1% |
| 2018 | 930,012 | +15.8% |
| 2019 | 880,030 | -5.4% |
| 2020 | 916,475 | +4.1% |
| 2021 | 809,451 | -11.7% |
| 2022 | 719,324 | -11.1% |
| 2023 | 663,185 | -7.8% |
| 2024 | 566,488 | -14.6% |
| 2025 | 489,643 | -13.6% |
| 2026 | 166,377 | -66.0% |
Malawi compared with similar countries
- Malawi's 166,377 is below the median for low income countries, which is 198,497, 84% of the median. (25 countries reporting)
- Malawi's 166,377 is below the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 535,614, 31% of the median. (48 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Annual area burnt by wildfires in Malawi 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | -66.0% | 489,643 | 166,377 |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010s | 986,295 | 803,434 | 1.20 million | 8 |
| 2020s | 618,706 | 166,377 | 916,475 | 7 |
Countries ranked near Malawi
More reference data data for Malawi
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 0.1596 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 1.09 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 3.71 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 0.3426 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Agricultural Soils 3.71 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 0.5353 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure Management 0.6012 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 4.92 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 16.7 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 1.87 (2050)
Frequently asked questions
- What is annual area burnt by wildfires in Malawi?
- Annual area burnt by wildfires in Malawi was 166,377 in 2026, according to Our World in Data.
- What is the highest annual area burnt by wildfires recorded in Malawi?
- The highest recorded value was 1.20 million in 2012.
- What is the lowest annual area burnt by wildfires recorded in Malawi?
- The lowest recorded value was 166,377 in 2026.
- How does Malawi rank for annual area burnt by wildfires?
- Malawi ranks 62nd out of 248 countries with data for 2026.
- Is annual area burnt by wildfires rising or falling in Malawi?
- Over the last ten years it is down 84.5%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Malawi 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).