Annual area burnt by wildfires in Sierra Leone

Sierra Leone: Annual area burnt by wildfires was 731,535 hectares in 2026. ▼ Falling

Latest (2026)
731,535 hectares
Change on year
down 35.4%
World rank
32nd
of 248 countries
All-time high
3.33 million hectares
in 2015
All-time low
731,535 hectares
in 2026
Years of data
15
2012–2026

Annual area burnt by wildfires in Sierra Leone, 2012–2026

1.0M2.0M3.0M2012201920262012: 2.7M hectares2013: 2.4M hectares2014: 3.1M hectares2015: 3.3M hectares2016: 2.1M hectares2017: 2.1M hectares2018: 1.5M hectares2019: 2.1M hectares2020: 2.0M hectares2021: 1.3M hectares2022: 2.1M hectares2023: 2.0M hectares2024: 1.5M hectares2025: 1.1M hectares2026: 731.5k hectares

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

Analysis

In 2026, annual area burnt by wildfires in Sierra Leone stood at 731,535 hectares. That is the lowest value across all 15 years on record.

Compared with earlier readings it is down 35.4% on the previous year and down 65.5% over ten years.

Over the whole period, annual area burnt by wildfires in Sierra Leone peaked at 3.33 million hectares in 2015 and was at its lowest, 731,535 hectares, in 2026.

Sierra Leone ranks 32nd of 248 countries on this measure, in the top quarter.

The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 15 years of available data.

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
2010s 2.42 million hectares 1.50 million hectares 3.33 million hectares 8
2020s 1.54 million hectares 731,535 hectares 2.12 million hectares 7

Countries ranked near Sierra Leone

  1. 29 Mozambique 1.17 million hectares compare
  2. 30 South Africa 903,313 hectares compare
  3. 31 Colombia 902,699 hectares compare
  4. 33 Congo 730,044 hectares compare
  5. 34 Madagascar 729,185 hectares compare
  6. 35 Indonesia 655,590 hectares compare

See the full ranking of 248 places →

More reference data data for Sierra Leone

All data for Sierra Leone →

Frequently asked questions

What is annual area burnt by wildfires in Sierra Leone?
Annual area burnt by wildfires in Sierra Leone was 731,535 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 Sierra Leone?
The highest recorded value was 3.33 million hectares in 2015.
What is the lowest annual area burnt by wildfires recorded in Sierra Leone?
The lowest recorded value was 731,535 hectares in 2026.
How does Sierra Leone rank for annual area burnt by wildfires?
Sierra Leone ranks 32nd out of 248 countries with data for 2026.
Is annual area burnt by wildfires rising or falling in Sierra Leone?
Over the last ten years it is down 65.5%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
Where does this Sierra Leone 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.