Historic insights
Long-term view from 2006–2025: fires and burnt area by country, size-class structure, and cause profiles (nature vs human, deliberate vs accidental). Series are calibrated to EFFIS/JRC published patterns for education and discovery — see About for citation guidance.
Years covered
2006–2025
Peak burnt area year
2017
980k ha
Mean EU burnt area
397k ha
Annual average
Human share (known causes)
~78%
Of human: ~25% deliberate
EU season totals
Mapped fires (approx. ≥30 ha) · select a year in the table to highlight the bar
Compare countries
Pin up to 3 · chip color matches the line · burnt area (ha) · pinning another replaces the oldest
Size classification structure
Typical multi-year EU share of fire count vs burned area
- Spot: < 1 ha
- Small: 1 – 100 ha
- Medium: 100 – 500 ha
- Large: 500 – 2,000 ha
- Very large: 2,000 – 10,000 ha
- Megafire: > 10,000 ha
Megafires are rare by count but dominate total burned area.
Causes: nature vs human
Investigation patterns · deliberate = arson share of human
Origin
- Natural 5%
- Human 78%
- Unknown 17%
Human breakdown
- Negligence 38%
- Arson (deliberate) 25%
- Agriculture 22%
- Infrastructure 9%
- Other human 6%
All Europe: Across southern Europe, literature consistently attributes ~90–96% of fires with known cause to human activity. Lightning dominates only in boreal / alpine zones. ‘Deliberate’ includes arson and illegal burns; most human fires are still accidental.
EU season table
Click a year to highlight it on the EU season chart above
| Year | Fires | Burnt area (ha) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 1,000 | 480,000 | — |
| 2024 | 950 | 420,000 | — |
| 2023 | 900 | 500,000 | — |
| 2022 | 1,100 | 830,000 | Western Europe heatwave fires |
| 2021 | 850 | 500,000 | Turkey / Greece / Italy major events |
| 2020 | 600 | 340,000 | — |
| 2019 | 680 | 320,000 | — |
| 2018 | 720 | 180,000 | Sweden exceptional boreal season |
| 2017 | 980 | 980,000 | Portugal / Mediterranean extreme |
| 2016 | 580 | 310,000 | — |
| 2015 | 620 | 350,000 | — |
| 2014 | 480 | 180,000 | — |
| 2013 | 500 | 220,000 | — |
| 2012 | 720 | 550,000 | Iberia / SE Europe heat |
| 2011 | 520 | 280,000 | — |
| 2010 | 450 | 200,000 | — |
| 2009 | 550 | 320,000 | — |
| 2008 | 480 | 190,000 | — |
| 2007 | 680 | 580,000 | Greece catastrophic season |
| 2006 | 520 | 210,000 | Baseline mid-2000s season |