Area burned by wildfires by land cover type in Sudan
Sudan: Area burned by wildfires by land cover type was 8.34 million hectares in 2025. ▼ Falling
Area burned by wildfires by land cover type in Sudan, 2002–2025
Source: Global Wildfire Information System (2026) – with minor processing by Our World in Data. Measured in hectares.
Analysis
Sudan recorded 8.34 million hectares for area burned by wildfires by land cover type in 2025.
That represents a change of up 53.7% on the previous year and up 52.7% over ten years.
Over the whole period, area burned by wildfires by land cover type in Sudan peaked at 8.93 million hectares in 2007 and was at its lowest, 3.82 million hectares, in 2022.
Sudan ranks 4th of 225 countries on this measure, 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 Sudan, year by year
| Year | hectares | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2002 | 6.49 million hectares | — |
| 2003 | 7.44 million hectares | +14.5% |
| 2004 | 7.75 million hectares | +4.2% |
| 2005 | 8.22 million hectares | +6.1% |
| 2006 | 6.80 million hectares | -17.3% |
| 2007 | 8.93 million hectares | +31.4% |
| 2008 | 6.83 million hectares | -23.5% |
| 2009 | 7.19 million hectares | +5.2% |
| 2010 | 5.58 million hectares | -22.4% |
| 2011 | 4.68 million hectares | -16.2% |
| 2012 | 7.22 million hectares | +54.3% |
| 2013 | 6.39 million hectares | -11.4% |
| 2014 | 5.27 million hectares | -17.6% |
| 2015 | 5.46 million hectares | +3.7% |
| 2016 | 5.76 million hectares | +5.5% |
| 2017 | 5.30 million hectares | -8.0% |
| 2018 | 4.98 million hectares | -6.0% |
| 2019 | 4.41 million hectares | -11.5% |
| 2020 | 6.20 million hectares | +40.7% |
| 2021 | 5.49 million hectares | -11.5% |
| 2022 | 3.82 million hectares | -30.5% |
| 2023 | 6.68 million hectares | +75.1% |
| 2024 | 5.43 million hectares | -18.7% |
| 2025 | 8.34 million hectares | +53.7% |
Sudan compared with similar countries
- Sudan's 8.34 million hectares is above the median for low income countries, which is 96,961 hectares, 86.0× the median. (25 countries reporting)
- Sudan's 8.34 million hectares is above the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 541,498 hectares, 15.4× the median. (48 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 7.46 million hectares | 6.49 million hectares | 8.93 million hectares | 8 |
| 2010s | 5.50 million hectares | 4.41 million hectares | 7.22 million hectares | 10 |
| 2020s | 5.99 million hectares | 3.82 million hectares | 8.34 million hectares | 6 |
Countries ranked near Sudan
More reference data data for Sudan
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 0.5846 (2019)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 17.81 (2019)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 19.69 (2019)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 0.4356 (2019)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Agricultural Soils 19.69 (2019)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 1.96 (2019)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure Management 0.8148 (2019)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 80.68 (2019)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 93.88 (2019)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 2.37 (2019)
Frequently asked questions
- What is area burned by wildfires by land cover type in Sudan?
- Area burned by wildfires by land cover type in Sudan was 8.34 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 Sudan?
- The highest recorded value was 8.93 million hectares in 2007.
- What is the lowest area burned by wildfires by land cover type recorded in Sudan?
- The lowest recorded value was 3.82 million hectares in 2022.
- How does Sudan rank for area burned by wildfires by land cover type?
- Sudan ranks 4th out of 225 countries with data for 2025.
- Is area burned by wildfires by land cover type rising or falling in Sudan?
- Over the last ten years it is up 52.7%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Sudan 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.