Skip to content
Environment Dashboard

Data

Area burned each year, world and continents, by land cover

Hectares burned each year since 2002 worldwide and in Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe and Oceania, split into forest, savannas, shrublands and grasslands, croplands and other land, as mapped by NASA's MODIS satellites and compiled by the EU's Global Wildfire Information System (GWIS). The 500 metre resolution misses many small fires and much cropland burning, so the totals are lower than finer-resolution estimates.

Latest value

332,928,198ha

World, and the five continents of GWIS's Country Profile (Africa, Americas, Asia, Europe, Oceania; codes UN_AFR, UN_AME, UN_ASI, UN_EUR, UN_OCE), each read from its own GWIS response., 2025. Version MCD64A1 C6.1 via GWIS, 2002–2025.

Area burned each year, world and continents, by land cover (hectares)

144 values from 2002 to 2025. Lines: All land cover, Forest, Savannas, Shrublands and grasslands, Croplands.
Show as a table
Area burned each year, world and continents, by land cover, every value
PeriodLand coverValue (ha)Status
2002All land cover463,548,794final
2003All land cover438,101,245final
2004All land cover460,854,206final
2005All land cover457,015,701final
2006All land cover430,843,678final
2007All land cover463,521,232final
2008All land cover423,634,603final
2009All land cover381,683,429final
2010All land cover416,138,314final
2011All land cover458,679,928final
2012All land cover454,327,444final
2013All land cover355,898,650final
2014All land cover381,295,347final
2015All land cover384,747,059final
2016All land cover365,519,094final
2017All land cover387,382,788final
2018All land cover353,846,857final
2019All land cover345,058,151final
2020All land cover349,740,716final
2021All land cover352,469,457final
2022All land cover330,533,551final
2023All land cover383,488,365final
2024All land cover365,746,181final
2025All land cover332,928,198final
2002Forest25,253,799final
2003Forest34,195,234final
2004Forest36,613,364final
2005Forest35,332,990final
2006Forest31,350,599final
2007Forest36,855,220final
2008Forest31,068,323final
2009Forest30,055,112final
2010Forest40,843,771final
2011Forest32,444,585final
2012Forest35,888,677final
2013Forest30,350,740final
2014Forest31,086,891final
2015Forest33,364,892final
2016Forest32,861,131final
2017Forest32,823,200final
2018Forest28,389,468final
2019Forest35,679,663final
2020Forest33,877,561final
2021Forest29,652,928final
2022Forest24,251,472final
2023Forest25,527,553final
2024Forest35,336,489final
2025Forest24,596,578final
2002Savannas184,240,037final
2003Savannas208,582,288final
2004Savannas189,205,886final
2005Savannas207,298,822final
2006Savannas176,616,155final
2007Savannas196,677,833final
2008Savannas190,580,625final
2009Savannas170,452,575final
2010Savannas185,733,739final
2011Savannas176,255,700final
2012Savannas181,357,407final
2013Savannas167,592,742final
2014Savannas171,396,365final
2015Savannas173,593,439final
2016Savannas174,357,495final
2017Savannas165,588,667final
2018Savannas157,802,310final
2019Savannas158,796,416final
2020Savannas168,139,842final
2021Savannas157,443,658final
2022Savannas155,113,646final
2023Savannas154,088,607final
2024Savannas165,234,888final
2025Savannas142,168,869final
2002Shrublands and grasslands212,980,365final
2003Shrublands and grasslands155,430,031final
2004Shrublands and grasslands194,898,999final
2005Shrublands and grasslands170,008,961final
2006Shrublands and grasslands183,751,044final
2007Shrublands and grasslands191,679,699final
2008Shrublands and grasslands159,760,512final
2009Shrublands and grasslands145,463,343final
2010Shrublands and grasslands156,274,026final
2011Shrublands and grasslands217,540,616final
2012Shrublands and grasslands206,551,552final
2013Shrublands and grasslands131,492,734final
2014Shrublands and grasslands147,489,613final
2015Shrublands and grasslands146,678,676final
2016Shrublands and grasslands127,826,772final
2017Shrublands and grasslands156,923,626final
2018Shrublands and grasslands143,486,508final
2019Shrublands and grasslands121,664,586final
2020Shrublands and grasslands119,397,619final
2021Shrublands and grasslands137,935,800final
2022Shrublands and grasslands123,564,487final
2023Shrublands and grasslands178,454,664final
2024Shrublands and grasslands138,900,669final
2025Shrublands and grasslands143,247,357final
2002Croplands40,428,364final
2003Croplands39,464,675final
2004Croplands39,681,287final
2005Croplands43,876,855final
2006Croplands38,659,212final
2007Croplands37,985,462final
2008Croplands41,615,491final
2009Croplands35,340,009final
2010Croplands32,821,698final
2011Croplands31,955,249final
2012Croplands30,060,887final
2013Croplands25,908,036final
2014Croplands30,896,832final
2015Croplands30,418,744final
2016Croplands30,002,049final
2017Croplands31,598,014final
2018Croplands23,796,739final
2019Croplands28,282,847final
2020Croplands27,265,516final
2021Croplands26,794,597final
2022Croplands27,059,508final
2023Croplands24,709,682final
2024Croplands25,474,897final
2025Croplands22,486,913final
2002Other646,230final
2003Other429,017final
2004Other454,669final
2005Other498,073final
2006Other466,668final
2007Other323,018final
2008Other609,652final
2009Other372,390final
2010Other465,080final
2011Other483,776final
2012Other468,922final
2013Other554,399final
2014Other425,647final
2015Other691,308final
2016Other471,648final
2017Other449,281final
2018Other371,832final
2019Other634,638final
2020Other1,060,178final
2021Other642,473final
2022Other544,439final
2023Other707,859final
2024Other799,239final
2025Other428,480final
© European Union, Global Wildfire Information System (GWIS), Country Profile, https://gwis.jrc.ec.europa.eu/apps/country.profile, accessed 2026-10-05, CC BY 4.0. Burned area from NASA MODIS MCD64A1 v061 (Giglio et al. 2021, doi:10.5067/MODIS/MCD64A1.061). CC BY 4.0 (European Commission reuse policy).

Where it comes from

Producer
European Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC), Global Wildfire Information System (GWIS) · GWIS Country Profile: yearly burned area by land cover (MODIS MCD64A1)
Version
MCD64A1 C6.1 via GWIS, 2002–2025
File
https://cprof.effis.emergency.copernicus.eu/api/v3/banf?level=AOI&value=WORLD&year=2025&yearFrom=2002&yearTo=2025&env=PROD
Fetched
2026-10-05 (automatically), 134,079 bytes
Fingerprint
sha256 2c29af78465ad69fbdc031fd557cc04eae5231cb8adb81dee26e3055b525e7ce
Copies
No Wayback copy recorded yet.Our copy of the exact file
Cite the producer
Global Wildfire Information System (GWIS), Country Profile, European Commission Joint Research Centre, https://gwis.jrc.ec.europa.eu/apps/country.profile, accessed 2026-10-05. Burned area from Giglio, L., Justice, C., Boschetti, L., & Roy, D. (2021). MODIS/Terra+Aqua Burned Area Monthly L3 Global 500m SIN Grid V061 [Dataset]. NASA Land Processes Distributed Active Archive Center. https://doi.org/10.5067/MODIS/MCD64A1.061
Producer
European Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC), Global Wildfire Information System (GWIS) · GWIS Country Profile: yearly burned area by land cover (MODIS MCD64A1)
Version
MCD64A1 C6.1 via GWIS, 2002–2025
File
https://cprof.effis.emergency.copernicus.eu/api/v3/banf?level=AOI&value=UN_AFR&year=2025&yearFrom=2002&yearTo=2025&env=PROD
Fetched
2026-10-05 (automatically), 133,353 bytes
Fingerprint
sha256 17e38254598a948a0904d47dd10ce17f86b80c30387ee4f7f13146d507915ecb
Copies
No Wayback copy recorded yet.Our copy of the exact file
Cite the producer
Global Wildfire Information System (GWIS), Country Profile, European Commission Joint Research Centre, https://gwis.jrc.ec.europa.eu/apps/country.profile, accessed 2026-10-05. Burned area from Giglio, L., Justice, C., Boschetti, L., & Roy, D. (2021). MODIS/Terra+Aqua Burned Area Monthly L3 Global 500m SIN Grid V061 [Dataset]. NASA Land Processes Distributed Active Archive Center. https://doi.org/10.5067/MODIS/MCD64A1.061
Producer
European Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC), Global Wildfire Information System (GWIS) · GWIS Country Profile: yearly burned area by land cover (MODIS MCD64A1)
Version
MCD64A1 C6.1 via GWIS, 2002–2025
File
https://cprof.effis.emergency.copernicus.eu/api/v3/banf?level=AOI&value=UN_AME&year=2025&yearFrom=2002&yearTo=2025&env=PROD
Fetched
2026-10-05 (automatically), 131,833 bytes
Fingerprint
sha256 97dced6a94c2ed5710cf4acbdb561ba216c46f4ed284b2ee9d0d2d7425055d5a
Copies
No Wayback copy recorded yet.Our copy of the exact file
Cite the producer
Global Wildfire Information System (GWIS), Country Profile, European Commission Joint Research Centre, https://gwis.jrc.ec.europa.eu/apps/country.profile, accessed 2026-10-05. Burned area from Giglio, L., Justice, C., Boschetti, L., & Roy, D. (2021). MODIS/Terra+Aqua Burned Area Monthly L3 Global 500m SIN Grid V061 [Dataset]. NASA Land Processes Distributed Active Archive Center. https://doi.org/10.5067/MODIS/MCD64A1.061
Producer
European Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC), Global Wildfire Information System (GWIS) · GWIS Country Profile: yearly burned area by land cover (MODIS MCD64A1)
Version
MCD64A1 C6.1 via GWIS, 2002–2025
File
https://cprof.effis.emergency.copernicus.eu/api/v3/banf?level=AOI&value=UN_ASI&year=2025&yearFrom=2002&yearTo=2025&env=PROD
Fetched
2026-10-05 (automatically), 131,124 bytes
Fingerprint
sha256 a9a05fdf9e981d9b834090af1c9258b88fc9fba1f6bc472225202dad6948b98e
Copies
No Wayback copy recorded yet.Our copy of the exact file
Cite the producer
Global Wildfire Information System (GWIS), Country Profile, European Commission Joint Research Centre, https://gwis.jrc.ec.europa.eu/apps/country.profile, accessed 2026-10-05. Burned area from Giglio, L., Justice, C., Boschetti, L., & Roy, D. (2021). MODIS/Terra+Aqua Burned Area Monthly L3 Global 500m SIN Grid V061 [Dataset]. NASA Land Processes Distributed Active Archive Center. https://doi.org/10.5067/MODIS/MCD64A1.061
Producer
European Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC), Global Wildfire Information System (GWIS) · GWIS Country Profile: yearly burned area by land cover (MODIS MCD64A1)
Version
MCD64A1 C6.1 via GWIS, 2002–2025
File
https://cprof.effis.emergency.copernicus.eu/api/v3/banf?level=AOI&value=UN_EUR&year=2025&yearFrom=2002&yearTo=2025&env=PROD
Fetched
2026-10-05 (automatically), 128,036 bytes
Fingerprint
sha256 e2a738677b01fadedb922f72b1d150f12488ac5b6efad2581dc169d456da99c4
Copies
No Wayback copy recorded yet.Our copy of the exact file
Cite the producer
Global Wildfire Information System (GWIS), Country Profile, European Commission Joint Research Centre, https://gwis.jrc.ec.europa.eu/apps/country.profile, accessed 2026-10-05. Burned area from Giglio, L., Justice, C., Boschetti, L., & Roy, D. (2021). MODIS/Terra+Aqua Burned Area Monthly L3 Global 500m SIN Grid V061 [Dataset]. NASA Land Processes Distributed Active Archive Center. https://doi.org/10.5067/MODIS/MCD64A1.061
Producer
European Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC), Global Wildfire Information System (GWIS) · GWIS Country Profile: yearly burned area by land cover (MODIS MCD64A1)
Version
MCD64A1 C6.1 via GWIS, 2002–2025
File
https://cprof.effis.emergency.copernicus.eu/api/v3/banf?level=AOI&value=UN_OCE&year=2025&yearFrom=2002&yearTo=2025&env=PROD
Fetched
2026-10-05 (automatically), 125,299 bytes
Fingerprint
sha256 a8889201d20929bd957b67f84984b91def66c1af407e194b73e9e30b2f8b2664
Copies
No Wayback copy recorded yet.Our copy of the exact file
Cite the producer
Global Wildfire Information System (GWIS), Country Profile, European Commission Joint Research Centre, https://gwis.jrc.ec.europa.eu/apps/country.profile, accessed 2026-10-05. Burned area from Giglio, L., Justice, C., Boschetti, L., & Roy, D. (2021). MODIS/Terra+Aqua Burned Area Monthly L3 Global 500m SIN Grid V061 [Dataset]. NASA Land Processes Distributed Active Archive Center. https://doi.org/10.5067/MODIS/MCD64A1.061

What was done to it

  1. Read the banfyear list of each GWIS Country Profile response (level=AOI): World (WORLD) 2002–2025; Africa (UN_AFR) 2002–2025; Americas (UN_AME) 2002–2025; Asia (UN_ASI) 2002–2025; Europe (UN_EUR) 2002–2025; Oceania (UN_OCE) 2002–2025. Published per year: lc_tot (all land cover) and lc1–lc5, labelled Forest, Savannas, Shrublands and grasslands, Croplands and Other as in the GWIS app's legend. Values are hectares as stored, not converted.

    Code: pipeline/src/envdash/transforms/impacts/gwis_burned_area.py · code sha256 417670cf2e3f5b07… · inputs 2c29af78465a… 17e38254598a… 97dced6a94c2… a9a05fdf9e98… e2a738677b01… a8889201d209…

  2. Checked in every year that the five land-cover classes add up to lc_tot, and that the twelve months of banfmonth add up to the year, each to within 0.01 hectare. The GlobFire fields (ba_area_ha, ba_count, firesize) are not read: they are 0.0 for years GlobFire has not yet processed.

    Code: pipeline/src/envdash/transforms/impacts/gwis_burned_area.py · code sha256 417670cf2e3f5b07… · inputs 2c29af78465a… 17e38254598a… 97dced6a94c2… a9a05fdf9e98… e2a738677b01… a8889201d209…

  3. Every year to 2025 has twelve months in the file and ended before the fetch: all final.

    Code: pipeline/src/envdash/transforms/impacts/gwis_burned_area.py · code sha256 417670cf2e3f5b07… · inputs 2c29af78465a… 17e38254598a… 97dced6a94c2… a9a05fdf9e98… e2a738677b01… a8889201d209…

What it covers

Geography
World, and the five continents of GWIS's Country Profile (Africa, Americas, Asia, Europe, Oceania; codes UN_AFR, UN_AME, UN_ASI, UN_EUR, UN_OCE), each read from its own GWIS response.
Basis
Burned area mapped by NASA MODIS MCD64A1 Collection 6.1 (500 m, monthly), by calendar year, January to December, unlike the March–February fire seasons of State of Wildfires. GWIS Europe is MODIS-based and differs from EFFIS's estimates for Europe.
Unit
hectares (ha)