A new analysis of global wildfire activity in 2025 reveals the world experienced some of the most destructive and deadly fire events in recent history, despite the second lowest area burned since 2002. It highlights a continued trend toward fires becoming increasingly extreme, costly, and disastrous—both economically and in lives lost.
Led by the University of East Anglia (UEA), an international team of scientists has summarized the wildfire events of 2025 for the Year in Review article, published as part of the Climate Chronicles series in the journal Nature Reviews Earth & Environment.
They found 335 million hectares burned globally in 2025—16% below the long-term average—while total fire-related carbon emissions fell to 11 billion metric tons of CO₂, the third lowest year since 2002.
However, a series of "catastrophic" wildfires across Canada, the United States, Europe and South Korea resulted in over 300,000 evacuations and over 90 fatalities, underscoring the rising societal toll of extreme wildfire events.
Financially, 2025 became the costliest year on record for insured wildfire losses globally, with the fires accounting for 38% of all insured natural hazard losses.
