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Data for 2023

Burned Area, 2023

2023, as GWIS’s 2026 release gives it · stored as published, never rewritten

This is how much land burned in a year — forest, savanna, grassland and farmland — as seen from NASA's MODIS satellites and added up per country by the European Commission's Global Wildfire Information System. It counts wildfires and every other vegetation fire, including fires set to clear fields.

Burned Area, 2023 covers 209 countries on 6 measures. Australia is highest, at 72,487,228.763; 49 countries share the lowest reading, 0.000. The middle country reads 8,178.495. Against 2022, 164 values changed (90 up, 74 down), the same countries are covered.

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Burned Area · Data for 2023

HighestAustralia

72,487,228.763

Lowest49 countries share it

0.000

Shaded by value in five groups of equal size, darkest at the highest end.

01Values only

The table

Every country and every column of Burned Area, 2023, as published. The file carries values only, so no position is shown. “=” marks a shared position.

Showing 25 of 209 countries · select a heading to sort

Burned Area, 2023: every country, as published by European Commission Joint Research Centre — Global Wildfire Information System (GWIS).
AustraliaAUSAustralia and New Zealand72,487,228.763172,392.3844,707,486.17267,075,232.823516,597.56015,519.824
AngolaAGOMiddle Africa35,726,007.9311,683,782.64220,763,117.76513,103,581.126167,970.4127,555.986
DR CongoCODMiddle Africa30,960,199.0103,421,315.80726,204,672.2121,287,544.18819,662.73727,004.066
South SudanSSDEastern Africa24,668,767.935240,482.11314,574,658.4768,974,707.401846,442.08332,477.862
ZambiaZMBEastern Africa20,071,766.5912,471,215.04813,186,482.3074,345,099.40159,782.4409,187.395
MozambiqueMOZEastern Africa17,679,932.3212,270,616.52212,622,702.7632,738,679.75044,026.4953,906.791
CanadaCANNorthern America13,319,248.7082,222,339.78610,307,737.768568,502.03527,755.368192,913.751
Central African RepublicCAFMiddle Africa11,966,340.9472,402,781.8627,235,950.6922,257,543.80267,810.6742,253.917
BrazilBRASouth America11,758,207.9321,518,216.4155,682,251.2173,662,849.754756,306.902138,583.644
BotswanaBWASouthern Africa10,637,131.50964.39814,038.67810,597,441.118536.64725,050.668
TanzaniaTZAEastern Africa8,240,338.623728,594.4675,287,708.5662,170,714.36440,978.34712,342.879
RussiaRUSEastern Europe7,957,590.254472,807.2064,784,248.1231,717,119.139973,799.0739,616.713
SudanSDNNorthern Africa7,933,634.310858.635269,053.1826,681,530.265981,612.649579.579
NigeriaNGAWestern Africa7,425,623.10643,060.536632,126.8623,257,810.2903,490,307.1032,318.315
ChadTCDMiddle Africa6,752,217.35996,982.786221,613.6145,400,490.2301,033,109.26321.466
MaliMLIWestern Africa6,608,116.9960.00046,838.5225,892,938.696666,429.3161,910.462
BoliviaBOLSouth America5,625,366.6731,481,552.6962,953,875.0761,081,901.18766,715.91841,321.796
South AfricaZAFSouthern Africa5,590,828.09116,979.503136,651.7135,244,261.658191,861.9221,073.295
SenegalSENWestern Africa5,283,243.6763,842.391213,005.8024,223,817.257841,955.716622.510
EthiopiaETHEastern Africa4,667,988.984160,199.7702,910,449.6231,069,343.651523,552.5044,443.436
GhanaGHAWestern Africa4,244,875.2675,323.537885,252.3702,670,654.417680,017.2103,627.733
IndiaINDSouthern Asia4,046,680.930458,231.868248,102.499176,406.4993,163,467.812472.252
VenezuelaVENSouth America3,353,333.43134,173.6731,310,126.2911,913,360.09093,548.2512,125.126
GuineaGINWestern Africa3,201,269.1999,659.6432,528,314.250419,142.525243,122.4181,030.363
MyanmarMMRSouth-eastern Asia3,183,602.7941,548,504.7411,045,130.151278,154.709310,782.8281,030.365

02In 2023

At either end

The 5 countries at each end of the headline, then the highest and lowest on each other measure.

Highest

  1. Australia72,487,228.763
  2. Angola35,726,007.931
  3. DR Congo30,960,199.010
  4. South Sudan24,668,767.935
  5. Zambia20,071,766.591

Lowest

  1. Samoashared0.000
  2. Vanuatushared0.000
  3. United States Virgin Islandsshared0.000
  4. British Virgin Islandsshared0.000
  5. Saint Vincent and the Grenadinesshared0.000

Neither end is better. The values describe a shape, not a score. The middle country reads 8,178.495. “Shared” marks a value another country also holds.

Each measure’s ends

  • Burned forest (hectares)

    HighestDR Congo3,421,315.807

    Lowest98 share it

    Middle country: 42.932

  • Burned savanna (hectares)

    HighestDR Congo26,204,672.212

    Lowest80 share it

    Middle country: 343.455

  • Burned shrubland and grassland (hectares)

    HighestAustralia67,075,232.823

    Lowest62 share it

    Middle country: 965.965

  • Burned cropland (hectares)

    HighestNigeria3,490,307.103

    Lowest67 share it

    Middle country: 1,051.829

  • Other burned land (hectares)

    HighestCanada192,913.751

    Lowest113 share it

    Middle country: 0.000

032022 → 2023

Since 2022

  • +0 / −0countries joined / left
  • 164values changed, of 209 in both
  • 90 · 74rose · fell
  • 45unchanged

Rose most

  • Australia28,176,805.837 → 72,487,228.763+44,310,422.926
  • Canada1,200,113.722 → 13,319,248.708+12,119,134.986
  • South Sudan21,364,569.918 → 24,668,767.935+3,304,198.017
  • Sudan4,672,410.954 → 7,933,634.310+3,261,223.356
  • Botswana7,530,956.103 → 10,637,131.509+3,106,175.406

Fell most

  • Central African Republic17,874,906.795 → 11,966,340.947−5,908,565.848
  • Mozambique20,968,911.046 → 17,679,932.321−3,288,978.725
  • Argentina4,463,075.815 → 2,100,134.614−2,362,941.201
  • Ghana6,600,711.278 → 4,244,875.267−2,355,836.011
  • DR Congo33,203,081.616 → 30,960,199.010−2,242,882.606

04Caveats

Read before you use

How values are stored

  • One year of the 2026 release

    Every year in this series comes from GWIS’s 2026 release, recalculated on one method, so a change from one year to the next is not a revision. It can differ from what was first published for 2023.

  • 150 distinct values among 209

    Values are stored exactly as published, to 14 decimals. 49 countries share 0.000. Countries sharing a value share a position too.

  • Nothing missing

    Every one of the 209 countries has every column.

05The files

Download and cite

Licence in full
  • .csv

    For a spreadsheet or code

    209 rows · 16 KB · UTF-8, opens in Excel

    Opens with 11 lines of source notes; the table starts on row 13.

    Download burned-area-2023-nations-inquiry.csv
  • ↗

    The publisher’s original

    GWIS’s own file, on its own site.

    banf

What this site changed: Reshaped to one row per country, with its ISO code; no value recalculated, rescaled or rounded. In full

Licence: CC BY 4.0 · what it allows, in plain words

Cite this edition

European Commission Joint Research Centre — Global Wildfire Information System (GWIS) (2023). Burned Area, 2023 [data set], describing 2023. As held by Nations Inquiry, https://nationsinquiry.com/datasets/burned-area/2023

0624 held

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