Area burned by wildfires by land cover type in Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea: Area burned by wildfires by land cover type was 17,881 hectares in 2025. ▼ Falling
Area burned by wildfires 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
The most recent figure for area burned by wildfires by land cover type in Papua New Guinea is 17,881 hectares, measured in 2025. That is the lowest value across all 24 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is down 31.5% on the previous year and down 82.4% over ten years.
Over the whole period, area burned by wildfires by land cover type in Papua New Guinea peaked at 101,641 hectares in 2015 and was at its lowest, 17,881 hectares, in 2025.
Papua New Guinea ranks 74th of 225 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 24 years of available data.
Area burned by wildfires by land cover type in Papua New Guinea, year by year
| Year | hectares | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2002 | 62,358 hectares | — |
| 2003 | 45,272 hectares | -27.4% |
| 2004 | 74,894 hectares | +65.4% |
| 2005 | 33,766 hectares | -54.9% |
| 2006 | 55,232 hectares | +63.6% |
| 2007 | 41,279 hectares | -25.3% |
| 2008 | 37,007 hectares | -10.3% |
| 2009 | 32,092 hectares | -13.3% |
| 2010 | 35,977 hectares | +12.1% |
| 2011 | 27,884 hectares | -22.5% |
| 2012 | 25,952 hectares | -6.9% |
| 2013 | 36,642 hectares | +41.2% |
| 2014 | 43,060 hectares | +17.5% |
| 2015 | 101,641 hectares | +136.0% |
| 2016 | 22,797 hectares | -77.6% |
| 2017 | 40,978 hectares | +79.8% |
| 2018 | 43,812 hectares | +6.9% |
| 2019 | 33,336 hectares | -23.9% |
| 2020 | 27,433 hectares | -17.7% |
| 2021 | 28,721 hectares | +4.7% |
| 2022 | 28,700 hectares | -0.1% |
| 2023 | 42,266 hectares | +47.3% |
| 2024 | 26,102 hectares | -38.2% |
| 2025 | 17,881 hectares | -31.5% |
Papua New Guinea compared with similar countries
- Papua New Guinea's 17,881 hectares is below the median for lower middle income countries, which is 49,425 hectares, 36% of the median. (46 countries reporting)
- Papua New Guinea's 17,881 hectares is above the median for East Asia & Pacific, which is 42.93 hectares, 416.5× the median. (35 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 47,737 hectares | 32,092 hectares | 74,894 hectares | 8 |
| 2010s | 41,208 hectares | 22,797 hectares | 101,641 hectares | 10 |
| 2020s | 28,517 hectares | 17,881 hectares | 42,266 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 area burned by wildfires by land cover type in Papua New Guinea?
- Area burned by wildfires by land cover type in Papua New Guinea was 17,881 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 Papua New Guinea?
- The highest recorded value was 101,641 hectares in 2015.
- What is the lowest area burned by wildfires by land cover type recorded in Papua New Guinea?
- The lowest recorded value was 17,881 hectares in 2025.
- How does Papua New Guinea rank for area burned by wildfires by land cover type?
- Papua New Guinea ranks 74th out of 225 countries with data for 2025.
- Is area burned by wildfires by land cover type rising or falling in Papua New Guinea?
- Over the last ten years it is down 82.4%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- 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 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.