Annual area burnt by wildfires in Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe: Annual area burnt by wildfires was 813,918 in 2026. ▼ Falling
Annual area burnt by wildfires in Zimbabwe, 2012–2026
Source: Our World in Data.
Analysis
Zimbabwe recorded 813,918 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 20.3% on the previous year and down 62.7% over ten years.
Over the whole period, annual area burnt by wildfires in Zimbabwe peaked at 3.27 million in 2012 and was at its lowest, 813,918, in 2026.
Zimbabwe ranks 39th 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.
Annual area burnt by wildfires in Zimbabwe, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2012 | 3.27 million | — |
| 2013 | 2.56 million | -21.6% |
| 2014 | 2.86 million | +11.6% |
| 2015 | 3.20 million | +11.7% |
| 2016 | 2.18 million | -31.8% |
| 2017 | 2.45 million | +12.2% |
| 2018 | 2.71 million | +10.9% |
| 2019 | 2.76 million | +1.7% |
| 2020 | 1.22 million | -55.7% |
| 2021 | 2.11 million | +73.0% |
| 2022 | 3.02 million | +42.8% |
| 2023 | 2.39 million | -21.0% |
| 2024 | 1.14 million | -52.0% |
| 2025 | 1.02 million | -10.8% |
| 2026 | 813,918 | -20.3% |
Zimbabwe compared with similar countries
- Zimbabwe's 813,918 is above the median for lower middle income countries, which is 156,215, 5.2× the median. (47 countries reporting)
- Zimbabwe's 813,918 is above the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 535,614, 1.5× the median. (48 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010s | 2.75 million | 2.18 million | 3.27 million | 8 |
| 2020s | 1.67 million | 813,918 | 3.02 million | 7 |
Countries ranked near Zimbabwe
More reference data data for Zimbabwe
- Spring temperature anomalies -0.1903 (2026)
- Autumn temperature anomalies 0.2726 (2026)
- Summer temperature anomalies 0.8086 (2026)
- Country level monthly temperature anomalies -0.5886 (2026)
- Exchange rate, new LCU per USD extended backward, period average 58,959 (2026)
- Exchange rate, old LCU per USD extended forward, period average 58,959 (2026)
- Official exchange rate, LCU per USD, period average 58,959 (2026)
- Urban area long term, annual growth rate 1.8 % change on previous year (2025)
- Urban area long term, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Urban area long term, per capita 0.0002 units per person (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is annual area burnt by wildfires in Zimbabwe?
- Annual area burnt by wildfires in Zimbabwe was 813,918 in 2026, according to Our World in Data.
- What is the highest annual area burnt by wildfires recorded in Zimbabwe?
- The highest recorded value was 3.27 million in 2012.
- What is the lowest annual area burnt by wildfires recorded in Zimbabwe?
- The lowest recorded value was 813,918 in 2026.
- How does Zimbabwe rank for annual area burnt by wildfires?
- Zimbabwe ranks 39th 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 62.7%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Zimbabwe 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).