Share of the total land area burnt by wildfires each year in New Zealand
New Zealand: Share of the total land area burnt by wildfires each year was 0.1% in 2026. ▼ Falling
Share of the total land area burnt by wildfires each year in New Zealand, 2012–2026
Source: Global Wildfire Information System (2026); Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2025) – with minor processing by Our World in Data. Measured in %.
Analysis
The most recent figure for share of the total land area burnt by wildfires each year in New Zealand is 0.1%, measured in 2026. That is the lowest value across all 15 years on record.
That represents a change of down 43.8% on the previous year and down 55.3% over ten years.
Over the whole period, share of the total land area burnt by wildfires each year in New Zealand peaked at 0.2% in 2019 and was at its lowest, 0.1%, in 2026.
New Zealand ranks 125th of 236 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 15 years of available data.
Share of the total land area burnt by wildfires each year in New Zealand, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2012 | 0.1% | — |
| 2013 | 0.2% | +16.3% |
| 2014 | 0.2% | +6.0% |
| 2015 | 0.2% | -1.6% |
| 2016 | 0.1% | -24.0% |
| 2017 | 0.1% | -9.7% |
| 2018 | 0.1% | -19.5% |
| 2019 | 0.2% | +91.4% |
| 2020 | 0.1% | -25.0% |
| 2021 | 0.1% | -5.8% |
| 2022 | 0.1% | -9.5% |
| 2023 | 0.1% | -32.7% |
| 2024 | 0.1% | -10.5% |
| 2025 | 0.1% | +48.1% |
| 2026 | 0.1% | -43.8% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010s | 0.2% | 0.1% | 0.2% | 8 |
| 2020s | 0.1% | 0.1% | 0.1% | 7 |
Countries ranked near New Zealand
More reference data data for New Zealand
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 0.4532 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 9.92 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 10.93 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 0.0459 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Agricultural Soils 10.93 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 1.52 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure Management 1.53 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 42.17 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 47.53 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 0.2499 (2050)
Frequently asked questions
- What is share of the total land area burnt by wildfires each year in New Zealand?
- Share of the total land area burnt by wildfires each year in New Zealand was 0.1% in 2026, according to Global Wildfire Information System (2026); Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2025) – with minor processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest share of the total land area burnt by wildfires each year recorded in New Zealand?
- The highest recorded value was 0.2% in 2019.
- What is the lowest share of the total land area burnt by wildfires each year recorded in New Zealand?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.1% in 2026.
- How does New Zealand rank for share of the total land area burnt by wildfires each year?
- New Zealand ranks 125th out of 236 countries with data for 2026.
- Is share of the total land area burnt by wildfires each year rising or falling in New Zealand?
- Over the last ten years it is down 55.3%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this New Zealand data come from?
- The figures come from Global Wildfire Information System (2026); Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2025) – with minor processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Share of the total land area burnt by wildfires each year. 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
The total area consumed by wildfires is recorded for each fire event, even if fires occur in the same location multiple times. The 2026 data is incomplete and was last updated 28 August 2026.