Area burned by wildfires by land cover type in Madagascar
Madagascar: Area burned by wildfires by land cover type was 2.96 million hectares in 2025. ▼ Falling
Area burned by wildfires by land cover type in Madagascar, 2002–2025
Source: Global Wildfire Information System (2026) – with minor processing by Our World in Data. Measured in hectares.
Analysis
The most recent figure for area burned by wildfires by land cover type in Madagascar is 2.96 million hectares, measured in 2025.
That represents a change of down 12.2% on the previous year and down 1.6% over ten years.
Over the whole period, area burned by wildfires by land cover type in Madagascar peaked at 5.74 million hectares in 2003 and was at its lowest, 2.54 million hectares, in 2022.
That places Madagascar 11th out of 225 countries with data for 2025, putting it in the top 10%.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 24 years of available data.
Area burned by wildfires by land cover type in Madagascar, year by year
| Year | hectares | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2002 | 3.21 million hectares | — |
| 2003 | 5.74 million hectares | +78.9% |
| 2004 | 3.27 million hectares | -43.0% |
| 2005 | 5.37 million hectares | +64.1% |
| 2006 | 3.69 million hectares | -31.3% |
| 2007 | 5.48 million hectares | +48.5% |
| 2008 | 3.48 million hectares | -36.6% |
| 2009 | 4.06 million hectares | +16.9% |
| 2010 | 3.66 million hectares | -10.0% |
| 2011 | 3.69 million hectares | +1.0% |
| 2012 | 3.85 million hectares | +4.4% |
| 2013 | 3.38 million hectares | -12.3% |
| 2014 | 3.02 million hectares | -10.6% |
| 2015 | 3.01 million hectares | -0.6% |
| 2016 | 4.27 million hectares | +42.2% |
| 2017 | 2.83 million hectares | -33.8% |
| 2018 | 2.94 million hectares | +3.7% |
| 2019 | 3.28 million hectares | +11.8% |
| 2020 | 3.32 million hectares | +1.2% |
| 2021 | 2.71 million hectares | -18.5% |
| 2022 | 2.54 million hectares | -6.0% |
| 2023 | 2.60 million hectares | +2.2% |
| 2024 | 3.37 million hectares | +29.6% |
| 2025 | 2.96 million hectares | -12.2% |
Madagascar compared with similar countries
- Madagascar's 2.96 million hectares is above the median for low income countries, which is 96,961 hectares, 30.5× the median. (25 countries reporting)
- Madagascar's 2.96 million hectares is above the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 541,498 hectares, 5.5× the median. (48 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 4.29 million hectares | 3.21 million hectares | 5.74 million hectares | 8 |
| 2010s | 3.39 million hectares | 2.83 million hectares | 4.27 million hectares | 10 |
| 2020s | 2.92 million hectares | 2.54 million hectares | 3.37 million hectares | 6 |
Countries ranked near Madagascar
More reference data data for Madagascar
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 0.4459 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 4.82 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 5.9 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 0.4503 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Agricultural Soils 5.9 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 1.5 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure Management 1.43 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 26.56 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 32.81 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 2.45 (2050)
Frequently asked questions
- What is area burned by wildfires by land cover type in Madagascar?
- Area burned by wildfires by land cover type in Madagascar was 2.96 million hectares in 2025, according to Global Wildfire Information System (2026) – with minor processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest area burned by wildfires by land cover type recorded in Madagascar?
- The highest recorded value was 5.74 million hectares in 2003.
- What is the lowest area burned by wildfires by land cover type recorded in Madagascar?
- The lowest recorded value was 2.54 million hectares in 2022.
- How does Madagascar rank for area burned by wildfires by land cover type?
- Madagascar ranks 11th out of 225 countries with data for 2025.
- Is area burned by wildfires by land cover type rising or falling in Madagascar?
- Over the last ten years it is down 1.6%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Madagascar data come from?
- The figures come from Global Wildfire Information System (2026) – with minor processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Area burned by wildfires 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 shrubland and grassland burnt by wildfires each year, in hectares. Includes open and closed shrublands and grasslands without a significant tree cover.