Annual area burnt by wildfires in Tanzania

Tanzania: Annual area burnt by wildfires was 1.22 million hectares in 2026. ▼ Falling

Latest (2026)
1.22 million hectares
Change on year
down 80.4%
World rank
26th
of 248 countries
All-time high
11.84 million hectares
in 2016
All-time low
1.22 million hectares
in 2026
Years of data
15
2012–2026

Annual area burnt by wildfires in Tanzania, 2012–2026

02.5M5.0M7.5M10.0M12.5M2012201920262012: 11.7M hectares2013: 10.9M hectares2014: 9.3M hectares2015: 11.6M hectares2016: 11.8M hectares2017: 9.0M hectares2018: 8.3M hectares2019: 9.1M hectares2020: 10.2M hectares2021: 9.8M hectares2022: 7.6M hectares2023: 6.5M hectares2024: 6.3M hectares2025: 6.2M hectares2026: 1.2M hectares

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

Analysis

The most recent figure for annual area burnt by wildfires in Tanzania is 1.22 million hectares, measured in 2026. That is the lowest value across all 15 years on record.

That represents a change of down 80.4% on the previous year and down 89.7% over ten years.

Over the whole period, annual area burnt by wildfires in Tanzania peaked at 11.84 million hectares in 2016 and was at its lowest, 1.22 million hectares, in 2026.

Tanzania ranks 26th 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 10.22 million hectares 8.27 million hectares 11.84 million hectares 8
2020s 6.84 million hectares 1.22 million hectares 10.22 million hectares 7

Countries ranked near Tanzania

  1. 23 Cameroon 1.44 million hectares compare
  2. 24 Chad 1.31 million hectares compare
  3. 25 Mexico 1.28 million hectares compare
  4. 27 Sudan 1.20 million hectares compare
  5. 28 Senegal 1.19 million hectares compare
  6. 29 Mozambique 1.17 million hectares compare

See the full ranking of 248 places →

More reference data data for Tanzania

All data for Tanzania →

Frequently asked questions

What is annual area burnt by wildfires in Tanzania?
Annual area burnt by wildfires in Tanzania was 1.22 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 Tanzania?
The highest recorded value was 11.84 million hectares in 2016.
What is the lowest annual area burnt by wildfires recorded in Tanzania?
The lowest recorded value was 1.22 million hectares in 2026.
How does Tanzania rank for annual area burnt by wildfires?
Tanzania ranks 26th out of 248 countries with data for 2026.
Is annual area burnt by wildfires rising or falling in Tanzania?
Over the last ten years it is down 89.7%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
Where does this Tanzania 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.