Share of the total land area burnt by wildfires each year in United States
United States: Share of the total land area burnt by wildfires each year was 0.3% in 2026. ▼ Falling
Share of the total land area burnt by wildfires each year in United States, 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
In 2026, share of the total land area burnt by wildfires each year in United States stood at 0.3%. That is the lowest value across all 15 years on record.
That represents a change of down 3.6% on the previous year and down 44.4% over ten years.
Over the whole period, share of the total land area burnt by wildfires each year in United States peaked at 0.7% in 2020 and was at its lowest, 0.3%, in 2026.
United States ranks 82nd 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 United States, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2012 | 0.6% | — |
| 2013 | 0.5% | -24.3% |
| 2014 | 0.5% | +3.3% |
| 2015 | 0.7% | +40.9% |
| 2016 | 0.6% | -15.2% |
| 2017 | 0.7% | +22.9% |
| 2018 | 0.6% | -18.6% |
| 2019 | 0.5% | -10.0% |
| 2020 | 0.7% | +44.6% |
| 2021 | 0.7% | -6.6% |
| 2022 | 0.7% | -3.8% |
| 2023 | 0.3% | -48.1% |
| 2024 | 0.4% | +27.5% |
| 2025 | 0.3% | -25.6% |
| 2026 | 0.3% | -3.6% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010s | 0.6% | 0.5% | 0.7% | 8 |
| 2020s | 0.5% | 0.3% | 0.7% | 7 |
Countries ranked near United States
More reference data data for United States
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 19.34 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 24.55 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 119.42 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 20.7 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Agricultural Soils 119.42 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 64.85 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure Management 52.14 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 133.45 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 589.96 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 112.69 (2050)
Frequently asked questions
- What is share of the total land area burnt by wildfires each year in United States?
- Share of the total land area burnt by wildfires each year in United States was 0.3% 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 United States?
- The highest recorded value was 0.7% in 2020.
- What is the lowest share of the total land area burnt by wildfires each year recorded in United States?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.3% in 2026.
- How does United States rank for share of the total land area burnt by wildfires each year?
- United States ranks 82nd out of 236 countries with data for 2026.
- Is share of the total land area burnt by wildfires each year rising or falling in United States?
- Over the last ten years it is down 44.4%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this United States 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.