Annual area burnt by wildfires in Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe: Annual area burnt by wildfires was 243,469 hectares in 2026. ▼ Falling

Latest (2026)
243,469 hectares
Change on year
down 76.2%
World rank
48th
of 248 countries
All-time high
3.27 million hectares
in 2012
All-time low
243,469 hectares
in 2026
Years of data
15
2012–2026

Annual area burnt by wildfires in Zimbabwe, 2012–2026

01.0M2.0M3.0M2012201920262012: 3.3M hectares2013: 2.6M hectares2014: 2.9M hectares2015: 3.2M hectares2016: 2.2M hectares2017: 2.4M hectares2018: 2.7M hectares2019: 2.8M hectares2020: 1.2M hectares2021: 2.1M hectares2022: 3.0M hectares2023: 2.4M hectares2024: 1.1M hectares2025: 1.0M hectares2026: 243.5k hectares

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

Analysis

Zimbabwe recorded 243,469 hectares for annual area burnt by wildfires in 2026. That is the lowest value across all 15 years on record.

That represents a change of down 76.2% on the previous year and down 88.8% over ten years.

Over the whole period, annual area burnt by wildfires in Zimbabwe peaked at 3.27 million hectares in 2012 and was at its lowest, 243,469 hectares, in 2026.

Zimbabwe ranks 48th 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 2.75 million hectares 2.18 million hectares 3.27 million hectares 8
2020s 1.59 million hectares 243,469 hectares 3.02 million hectares 7

Countries ranked near Zimbabwe

  1. 45 Chile 304,983 hectares compare
  2. 46 Vietnam 285,245 hectares compare
  3. 47 Papua New Guinea 284,207 hectares compare
  4. 49 Philippines 237,168 hectares compare
  5. 50 Togo 208,905 hectares compare
  6. 51 Botswana 207,386 hectares compare

See the full ranking of 248 places →

More reference data data for Zimbabwe

All data for Zimbabwe →

Frequently asked questions

What is annual area burnt by wildfires in Zimbabwe?
Annual area burnt by wildfires in Zimbabwe was 243,469 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 Zimbabwe?
The highest recorded value was 3.27 million hectares in 2012.
What is the lowest annual area burnt by wildfires recorded in Zimbabwe?
The lowest recorded value was 243,469 hectares in 2026.
How does Zimbabwe rank for annual area burnt by wildfires?
Zimbabwe ranks 48th out of 248 countries with data for 2026.
Is annual area burnt by wildfires rising or falling in Zimbabwe?
Over the last ten years it is down 88.8%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
Where does this Zimbabwe 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.

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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.