Land burned by forest fires in Portugal 2009-2023

Portugal has been the European country most affected by wildfires over the past decade. Between 2009 and 2021, an average area of over 80,000 hectares was burned every year. Furthermore, 2017 saw the greatest area lost to wildfires in a single year, with the rapidly spreading wildfires from June 17 to 24 in Central Portugal among the most deadly in recent history – 66 people were confirmed to have been killed. As of December 2023, the size of wildfire-burnt area that year was around 36.5 thousand hectares, a considerable decrease from the previous year.