Annual area burnt by wildfires in Uganda

Uganda: Annual area burnt by wildfires was 520,576 hectares in 2026. ▼ Falling

Latest (2026)
520,576 hectares
Change on year
down 54.8%
World rank
39th
of 248 countries
All-time high
3.06 million hectares
in 2016
All-time low
520,576 hectares
in 2026
Years of data
15
2012–2026

Annual area burnt by wildfires in Uganda, 2012–2026

1.0M2.0M3.0M2012201920262012: 2.3M hectares2013: 2.7M hectares2014: 1.9M hectares2015: 2.6M hectares2016: 3.1M hectares2017: 2.4M hectares2018: 1.4M hectares2019: 1.3M hectares2020: 2.0M hectares2021: 2.0M hectares2022: 1.2M hectares2023: 1.4M hectares2024: 943.4k hectares2025: 1.2M hectares2026: 520.6k hectares

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

Analysis

Uganda recorded 520,576 hectares for annual area burnt by wildfires in 2026. That is the lowest value across all 15 years on record.

The figure is down 54.8% on the previous year and down 83.0% over ten years.

Over the whole period, annual area burnt by wildfires in Uganda peaked at 3.06 million hectares in 2016 and was at its lowest, 520,576 hectares, in 2026.

That places Uganda 39th 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.

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
2010s 2.20 million hectares 1.30 million hectares 3.06 million hectares 8
2020s 1.31 million hectares 520,576 hectares 2.03 million hectares 7

Countries ranked near Uganda

  1. 36 Bolivia 587,344 hectares compare
  2. 37 Argentina 568,525 hectares compare
  3. 38 Burkina Faso 553,719 hectares compare
  4. 40 Kazakhstan 458,731 hectares compare
  5. 41 Cote d'Ivoire 451,527 hectares compare
  6. 42 Paraguay 427,928 hectares compare

See the full ranking of 248 places →

More reference data data for Uganda

All data for Uganda →

Frequently asked questions

What is annual area burnt by wildfires in Uganda?
Annual area burnt by wildfires in Uganda was 520,576 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 Uganda?
The highest recorded value was 3.06 million hectares in 2016.
What is the lowest annual area burnt by wildfires recorded in Uganda?
The lowest recorded value was 520,576 hectares in 2026.
How does Uganda rank for annual area burnt by wildfires?
Uganda ranks 39th 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 83.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
Where does this Uganda 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.