Wildfire area burned by land cover type in Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea: Wildfire area burned by land cover type was 622.51 hectares in 2025. ◆ Volatile
Wildfire area burned by land cover type in Papua New Guinea, 2002–2025
Source: Global Wildfire Information System (2026) – with minor processing by Our World in Data. Measured in hectares.
Analysis
Papua New Guinea recorded 622.51 hectares for wildfire area burned by land cover type in 2025. That is the lowest value across all 24 years on record.
That represents a change of down 65.5% on the previous year and down 97.7% over ten years.
Over the whole period, wildfire area burned by land cover type in Papua New Guinea peaked at 26,575 hectares in 2015 and was at its lowest, 622.51 hectares, in 2025.
That places Papua New Guinea 47th out of 225 countries with data for 2025, putting it in the top quarter.
The series is highly variable year to year, so single readings are best treated with caution.
Wildfire area burned by land cover type in Papua New Guinea, year by year
| Year | hectares | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2002 | 10,261 hectares | — |
| 2003 | 2,061 hectares | -79.9% |
| 2004 | 20,521 hectares | +895.8% |
| 2005 | 2,318 hectares | -88.7% |
| 2006 | 6,590 hectares | +184.3% |
| 2007 | 1,503 hectares | -77.2% |
| 2008 | 4,186 hectares | +178.6% |
| 2009 | 1,739 hectares | -58.5% |
| 2010 | 1,352 hectares | -22.2% |
| 2011 | 2,705 hectares | +100.0% |
| 2012 | 2,082 hectares | -23.0% |
| 2013 | 3,241 hectares | +55.7% |
| 2014 | 3,327 hectares | +2.6% |
| 2015 | 26,575 hectares | +698.7% |
| 2016 | 1,868 hectares | -93.0% |
| 2017 | 2,984 hectares | +59.8% |
| 2018 | 2,426 hectares | -18.7% |
| 2019 | 2,490 hectares | +2.7% |
| 2020 | 1,095 hectares | -56.0% |
| 2021 | 3,692 hectares | +237.3% |
| 2022 | 1,825 hectares | -50.6% |
| 2023 | 3,327 hectares | +82.4% |
| 2024 | 1,803 hectares | -45.8% |
| 2025 | 622.51 hectares | -65.5% |
Papua New Guinea compared with similar countries
- Papua New Guinea's 622.51 hectares is above the median for lower middle income countries, which is 42.93 hectares, 14.5× the median. (46 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Wildfire area burned by land cover type in Papua New Guinea changed far more than this series normally does. A large move can be a real event or a change in how the figure was measured — the source note below says who published it.
| Year | Change | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | +895.8% | 2,061 hectares | 20,521 hectares |
| 2015 | +698.7% | 3,327 hectares | 26,575 hectares |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 6,147 hectares | 1,503 hectares | 20,521 hectares | 8 |
| 2010s | 4,905 hectares | 1,352 hectares | 26,575 hectares | 10 |
| 2020s | 2,061 hectares | 622.51 hectares | 3,692 hectares | 6 |
Countries ranked near Papua New Guinea
More reference data data for Papua New Guinea
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 0.2042 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 0.0498 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 0.3515 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 0.0007 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Agricultural Soils 0.3515 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 0.6846 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure Management 0.5295 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 0.2811 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 1.89 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 0.0038 (2050)
Frequently asked questions
- What is wildfire area burned by land cover type in Papua New Guinea?
- Wildfire area burned by land cover type in Papua New Guinea was 622.51 hectares in 2025, according to Global Wildfire Information System (2026) – with minor processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest wildfire area burned by land cover type recorded in Papua New Guinea?
- The highest recorded value was 26,575 hectares in 2015.
- What is the lowest wildfire area burned by land cover type recorded in Papua New Guinea?
- The lowest recorded value was 622.51 hectares in 2025.
- How does Papua New Guinea rank for wildfire area burned by land cover type?
- Papua New Guinea ranks 47th out of 225 countries with data for 2025.
- Is wildfire area burned by land cover type rising or falling in Papua New Guinea?
- Over the last ten years it is down 97.7%. The long-run trend across the full record is volatile.
- Where does this Papua New Guinea data come from?
- The figures come from Global Wildfire Information System (2026) – with minor processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Wildfire area burned by land cover type. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 24 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Area of other land types burnt by wildfires each year, in hectares. Includes wetlands, urban areas, snow and ice, bare ground, and water bodies.