Annual number of wildfires in Japan

Japan: Annual number of wildfires was 53 wildfires in 2026. ▲ Rising

Latest (2026)
53 wildfires
Change on year
down 10.2%
World rank
96th
of 248 countries
All-time high
59 wildfires
in 2025
All-time low
20 wildfires
in 2012
Years of data
15
2012–2026

Annual number of wildfires in Japan, 2012–2026

20304050602012201920262012: 20 wildfires2013: 34 wildfires2014: 41 wildfires2015: 49 wildfires2016: 31 wildfires2017: 26 wildfires2018: 52 wildfires2019: 51 wildfires2020: 48 wildfires2021: 29 wildfires2022: 52 wildfires2023: 42 wildfires2024: 35 wildfires2025: 59 wildfires2026: 53 wildfires

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

Analysis

Japan recorded 53 wildfires for annual number of wildfires in 2026.

That represents a change of down 10.2% on the previous year and up 71.0% over ten years.

Over the whole period, annual number of wildfires in Japan peaked at 59 wildfires in 2025 and was at its lowest, 20 wildfires, in 2012.

That places Japan 96th out of 248 countries with data for 2026, putting it in the middle of the range.

The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 15 years of available data.

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
2010s 38 wildfires 20 wildfires 52 wildfires 8
2020s 45.43 wildfires 29 wildfires 59 wildfires 7

Countries ranked near Japan

  1. 93 United Kingdom 64 wildfires compare
  2. 94 Germany 59 wildfires compare
  3. 95 Belarus 55 wildfires compare
  4. 97 Eswatini 52 wildfires compare
  5. 98 Azerbaijan 51 wildfires compare
  6. 99 Uruguay 45 wildfires compare

See the full ranking of 248 places →

More reference data data for Japan

All data for Japan →

Frequently asked questions

What is annual number of wildfires in Japan?
Annual number of wildfires in Japan was 53 wildfires in 2026, according to Global Wildfire Information System (2026) – with minor processing by Our World in Data.
What is the highest annual number of wildfires recorded in Japan?
The highest recorded value was 59 wildfires in 2025.
What is the lowest annual number of wildfires recorded in Japan?
The lowest recorded value was 20 wildfires in 2012.
How does Japan rank for annual number of wildfires?
Japan ranks 96th out of 248 countries with data for 2026.
Is annual number of wildfires rising or falling in Japan?
Over the last ten years it is up 71.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
Where does this Japan 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 number of 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 number of wildfires
Unit
wildfires
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

Number of wildfires. The 2026 data is incomplete and was last updated 07 August 2026.