Area burned by wildfires by land cover type in Madagascar

Madagascar: Area burned by wildfires by land cover type was 3.37 million hectares in 2024. ▼ Falling

Latest (2024)
3.37 million hectares
Change on year
up 29.6%
World rank
12th
of 225 countries
All-time high
5.74 million hectares
in 2003
All-time low
2.54 million hectares
in 2022
Years of data
23
2002–2024

Area burned by wildfires by land cover type in Madagascar, 2002–2024

02.0M4.0M6.0M2002201320242002: 3.2M hectares2003: 5.7M hectares2004: 3.3M hectares2005: 5.4M hectares2006: 3.7M hectares2007: 5.5M hectares2008: 3.5M hectares2009: 4.1M hectares2010: 3.7M hectares2011: 3.7M hectares2012: 3.9M hectares2013: 3.4M hectares2014: 3.0M hectares2015: 3.0M hectares2016: 4.3M hectares2017: 2.8M hectares2018: 2.9M hectares2019: 3.3M hectares2020: 3.3M hectares2021: 2.7M hectares2022: 2.5M hectares2023: 2.6M hectares2024: 3.4M hectares

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 3.37 million hectares, measured in 2024.

That represents a change of up 29.6% on the previous year and up 11.5% 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 12th out of 225 countries with data for 2024, putting it in the top 10%.

The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 23 years of available data.

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest 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 2.91 million hectares 2.54 million hectares 3.37 million hectares 5

Countries ranked near Madagascar

  1. 9 Zambia 4.08 million hectares compare
  2. 10 Burkina Faso 3.51 million hectares compare
  3. 11 Senegal 3.38 million hectares compare
  4. 13 Ghana 3.35 million hectares compare
  5. 14 Nigeria 3.00 million hectares compare
  6. 15 Mozambique 2.81 million hectares compare

See the full ranking of 225 places →

More reference data data for Madagascar

All data for Madagascar →

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 3.37 million hectares in 2024, 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 12th out of 225 countries with data for 2024.
Is area burned by wildfires by land cover type rising or falling in Madagascar?
Over the last ten years it is up 11.5%. 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 — 23 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).

About this data

Indicator
Area burned by wildfires by land cover type
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
225 places, 5,175 data points, 2002–2024
Last refreshed

Area of shrubland and grassland burnt by wildfires each year, in hectares. Includes open and closed shrublands and grasslands without a significant tree cover.