Annual area burnt by wildfires in Uganda
Uganda: Annual area burnt by wildfires was 673,063 in 2026. ▼ Falling
Annual area burnt by wildfires in Uganda, 2012–2026
Source: Our World in Data.
Analysis
Uganda recorded 673,063 for annual area burnt by wildfires in 2026. That is the lowest value across all 15 years on record.
The figure is down 41.6% on the previous year and down 78.0% over ten years.
Over the whole period, annual area burnt by wildfires in Uganda peaked at 3.06 million in 2016 and was at its lowest, 673,063, in 2026.
That places Uganda 42nd 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 Uganda, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2012 | 2.26 million | — |
| 2013 | 2.75 million | +21.7% |
| 2014 | 1.87 million | -31.8% |
| 2015 | 2.57 million | +37.0% |
| 2016 | 3.06 million | +19.4% |
| 2017 | 2.44 million | -20.4% |
| 2018 | 1.39 million | -42.9% |
| 2019 | 1.30 million | -6.7% |
| 2020 | 1.99 million | +53.3% |
| 2021 | 2.03 million | +1.8% |
| 2022 | 1.17 million | -42.2% |
| 2023 | 1.36 million | +16.3% |
| 2024 | 943,350 | -30.6% |
| 2025 | 1.15 million | +22.1% |
| 2026 | 673,063 | -41.6% |
Uganda compared with similar countries
- Uganda's 673,063 is above the median for low income countries, which is 198,497, 3.4× the median. (25 countries reporting)
- Uganda's 673,063 is above the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 535,614, 1.3× the median. (48 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010s | 2.20 million | 1.30 million | 3.06 million | 8 |
| 2020s | 1.33 million | 673,063 | 2.03 million | 7 |
Countries ranked near Uganda
- 39 Zimbabwe 813,918 compare
- 40 Paraguay 733,713 compare
- 41 Sierra Leone 731,535 compare
- 43 Kazakhstan 664,587 compare
- 44 Burkina Faso 554,352 compare
- 45 Botswana 516,876 compare
More reference data data for Uganda
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 1.36 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 5.95 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 7.86 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 0.4214 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Agricultural Soils 7.86 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 4.57 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure Management 5.13 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 29.65 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 42.22 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 2.29 (2050)
Frequently asked questions
- What is annual area burnt by wildfires in Uganda?
- Annual area burnt by wildfires in Uganda was 673,063 in 2026, according to Our World in Data.
- What is the highest annual area burnt by wildfires recorded in Uganda?
- The highest recorded value was 3.06 million in 2016.
- What is the lowest annual area burnt by wildfires recorded in Uganda?
- The lowest recorded value was 673,063 in 2026.
- How does Uganda rank for annual area burnt by wildfires?
- Uganda ranks 42nd out of 248 countries with data for 2026.
- Is annual area burnt by wildfires rising or falling in Uganda?
- Over the last ten years it is down 78.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Uganda 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).