CO2 Emissions From Wildfires by Country 2025

What this chart shows. The 25 countries whose wildfires released the most carbon dioxide in 2025, in millions of tonnes. Canada led with 741.2 million tonnes, 16.0 per cent of the world's 4,620 million, followed by DR Congo with 403.3 million and Australia with 402.9 million.

How the data is collected. GWIS estimates the CO2 released from its satellite fire data. Emissions depend on what burned as well as how much: a hectare of forest holds far more carbon than a hectare of grassland. The figures here are the cumulative total at the end of week 52 of 2025.

Background. Canada accounted for only 2.8 per cent of the world's burned area but released 16.0 per cent of wildfire CO2. In GWIS's land-cover data, 23.3 per cent of Canada's burned area was forest, against 7.4 per cent worldwide. Worldwide, wildfire CO2 in 2025 was the lowest in the series, which starts in 2003.

Limits. Emission estimates carry more uncertainty than burned area because they depend on assumptions about how much fuel burned. Much of the CO2 from savanna and grassland fires is taken up again as vegetation regrows, which is not true of forests that take decades to recover.