How much land burns in Nigeria in an average year?

According to Copernicus GWIS estimates, an average of 6,468,093 hectares burn in Nigeria each year (2016–2025 average).

What was the worst wildfire year in Nigeria?

The worst year in Nigeria since 2016 was 2016, with 7,794,861 hectares burned according to Copernicus GWIS.

What is the largest wildfire recorded in Nigeria?

Largest fire recorded by WorldFires in Nigeria since 2016: Kontagora fire, 18 December 2025, with 94,992 hectares burned — perimeter rebuilt from heat detections (Copernicus GWIS).

When is wildfire season in Nigeria?

In Nigeria, 75% of the area burned in fires with a WorldFires page since 2016 burned in November–January; the month with the most burned area: December.

Which regions of Nigeria burn the most?

Regions of Nigeria with the most area burned in fires with a WorldFires page since 2016: Borno (1,843,197 ha), Niger (1,466,932 ha), Zamfara (829,846 ha).

NG · Countries

Wildfires in Nigeria

1,809 fires over 2,000 hectares with a perimeter estimated by GWIS since 2016, adding up to 7,502,561 hectares burned across 245 local government areas.

Only fires of 2,000 ha or more get an entry: smaller ones are not in the lists or the entry totals, but they are in the GWIS yearly series.

These figures leave out 3 provisional pages, seen only as heat detections and still without a perimeter. They appear in the lists, marked.

What is burning in Nigeria today · 72 › Emergency number and official warnings ›

Key facts

According to Copernicus GWIS, 4,862,238 hectares burned in Nigeria in 2025.
The worst year in Nigeria since 2016 was 2016, with 7,794,861 hectares burned according to Copernicus GWIS.
According to Copernicus GWIS estimates, an average of 6,468,093 hectares burn in Nigeria each year (2016–2025 average).
Fires counted by Copernicus GWIS in Nigeria so far in 2026 (up to week 42): 8,591, against an average of 19,369 per full year in 2016–2025.
Largest fire recorded by WorldFires in Nigeria since 2016: Kontagora fire, 18 December 2025, with 94,992 hectares burned — perimeter rebuilt from heat detections (Copernicus GWIS).

Figures computed on 27 October 2026 from the WorldFires database; each sentence names its source. Reusable under CC BY 4.0 with credit to WorldFires.

How the season is going · week 42

Copernicus GWIS · provisional

72 % against the 2012–2025 average

Nigeria is running below the usual for this point in the year, at 72 % of the average: 2,934,711 hectares burned up to week 42, against an average of 4,053,904 in 2012–2025 (Copernicus GWIS).

2026: 2,934,711 ha
average: 4,053,904 ha
minimum: 2,180,149 ha
maximum: 5,021,499 ha

GWIS estimates for the current year are provisional and may change.

The season, week by week

Copernicus GWIS

2026 average 2012–2025 lowest and highest

The GWIS yearly series

2012–2026

Yearly average 2016–20256,468,093 ha

Worst year2016 7,794,861 ha

With a page here1,809 since 2016

121314151617181920212223242526

›See the year-by-year table

Year	Fires	hectares	Source
2026	8,728	2,976,547	GWIS
2025	13,922	4,862,238	GWIS
2024	16,645	5,686,513	GWIS
2023	18,189	6,328,603	GWIS
2022	22,584	7,331,658	GWIS
2021	22,195	7,563,797	GWIS
2020	21,721	7,080,818	GWIS
2019	18,299	5,922,084	GWIS
2018	16,284	5,080,039	GWIS
2017	21,269	7,030,320	GWIS
2016	22,581	7,794,861	GWIS
2015	20,501	6,507,290	GWIS
2014	18,221	5,785,189	GWIS
2013	17,305	5,384,709	GWIS
2012	13,079	4,042,283	GWIS

National estimates from Copernicus GWIS, rebuilt from heat detections since 2012.

Fire calendar

The peak usually comes in week 44 (around 1 November): that is the median of the week with the most burned area in each year since 2016.

Each cell is one week; the colour shows the area of the fires on record that started that week, in quartiles for this country. Tap a cell for details.

Hectares per week: no fires < 6,5796,579–18,37618,376–38,071≥ 38,071

When it burned: year by year, month by month

Hectares with a perimeter estimated by GWIS by the fire’s starting month, and the largest fire of each year.

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Σ	Largest of the year
2026	647k	149k	27k	14k	3k	5k	52k	135k			1,032,185	Borgu 78,532 ha
2025	181k	7k	20k	2k				175k	382k	923k	1,690,745	Kontagora 94,992 ha
2024	121k	46k	2k					32k	53k	180k	434,776	Mariga 18,293 ha
2023	66k	159k	8k					78k	81k	284k	676,276	Iguegben 44,167 ha
2022	247k	9k	6k	4k				4k	57k	144k	470,814	Birnin Gwari 38,283 ha
2021	266k	59k	20k	3k				98k	93k	171k	708,776	Abadam 43,877 ha
2020	240k	38k	7k	8k				34k	85k	183k	594,223	Mariga 26,828 ha
2019	82k	53k	19k	5k	2k			31k	86k	80k	359,242	Abadam 27,753 ha
2018	62k							86k	5k	45k	198,249	Kukawa 32,284 ha
2017	73k	130k	4k				21k	192k	62k	131k	613,086	Abadam 39,930 ha
2016	261k	45k	13k			3k	10k	91k	136k	166k	724,189	Maru 43,149 ha

Hectares burned per year

2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026

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Largest recorded fires

By region

Borno 1,843,197 ha · 466
Niger 1,466,932 ha · 292
Zamfara 829,846 ha · 247
Taraba 618,576 ha · 172
Benue 360,209 ha · 94
Kaduna 338,403 ha · 114
Edo 330,736 ha · 88
Kwara 213,278 ha · 44
Kogi 186,552 ha · 62
Kebbi 171,238 ha · 71
Plateau 166,963 ha · 40
Ondo 152,557 ha · 24

and 18 more regions with less area

Sokoto 139,691 ha · 54
Adamawa 120,910 ha · 44
Cross River 115,639 ha · 38
Katsina 83,509 ha · 33
Bauchi 78,962 ha · 34
Nasarawa 73,246 ha · 26
Oyo 58,416 ha · 16
Anambra 37,895 ha · 12
Delta 28,394 ha · 12
Ekiti 18,622 ha · 7
Ogun 18,431 ha · 7
Enugu 17,030 ha · 7
Abuja Federal Capital Territory 13,944 ha · 6
Yobe 10,598 ha · 6
Kano 4,733 ha · 2
Osun 1,219 ha · 3
Ebonyi 188 ha · 1
Lagos 152 ha · 1

Local government areas that have burned most often in Nigeria

103×Mariga9 years · 489,056 ha
102×Maru11 years · 350,346 ha
85×Birnin Gwari11 years · 245,201 ha
67×Rafi10 years · 257,433 ha
61×Mafa11 years · 184,612 ha

Full ranking: by number of fires, area and share of the municipality →

Fires in 2026 · 232

See all 232 fires of 2026 →

Fires in 2025 · 321

See all 321 fires of 2025 →

Fires in 2024 · 121

See all 121 fires of 2024 →

Fires in 2023 · 164

See all 164 fires of 2023 →

Fires in 2022 · 125

See all 125 fires of 2022 →

Fires in 2021 · 179

See all 179 fires of 2021 →

Fires in 2020 · 160

See all 160 fires of 2020 →

Fires in 2019 · 103

See all 103 fires of 2019 →

Fires in 2018 · 52

See all 52 fires of 2018 →

Fires in 2017 · 155

See all 155 fires of 2017 →

Fires in 2016 · 200

See all 200 fires of 2016 →

Frequently asked questions

How much land burns in Nigeria in an average year?: According to Copernicus GWIS estimates, an average of 6,468,093 hectares burn in Nigeria each year (2016–2025 average).
What was the worst wildfire year in Nigeria?: The worst year in Nigeria since 2016 was 2016, with 7,794,861 hectares burned according to Copernicus GWIS.
What is the largest wildfire recorded in Nigeria?: Largest fire recorded by WorldFires in Nigeria since 2016: Kontagora fire, 18 December 2025, with 94,992 hectares burned — perimeter rebuilt from heat detections (Copernicus GWIS).
When is wildfire season in Nigeria?: In Nigeria, 75% of the area burned in fires with a WorldFires page since 2016 burned in November–January; the month with the most burned area: December.
How many wildfires has Nigeria had in 2026?: Fires counted by Copernicus GWIS in Nigeria so far in 2026 (up to week 42): 8,591, against an average of 19,369 per full year in 2016–2025. Nigeria is running below the usual for this point in the year, at 72 % of the average: 2,934,711 hectares burned up to week 42, against an average of 4,053,904 in 2012–2025 (Copernicus GWIS).
Which regions of Nigeria burn the most?: Regions of Nigeria with the most area burned in fires with a WorldFires page since 2016: Borno (1,843,197 ha), Niger (1,466,932 ha), Zamfara (829,846 ha).