Almost 1% of the entire Portuguese territory burned in the first seven months of the year.

Portugal is the country with the highest percentage of burned area in Europe in relation to the size of the country, according to data from the European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS).

The area burned in the country since January has already exceeded 84 thousand hectares of bush and forest. Portugal is at the top of the percentage of burned area and is the third with the largest burned area, behind Romania and Spain.

Figures from the European Forest Fire Information System estimate system point to more than 700,000 hectares burned in Europe, making this the second worst year of fires on the continent since records began.

Portugal is in first place, registering the highest percentage of burned area this year.

Almost 1% of the entire Portuguese territory burned so far in 2022, with the country approaching the national average of 1.05%, (for the whole year). In this regard, Romania and Spain appear far below Portugal, with 0.6% and 0.5%, respectively.

The area burned this year represents 0.15% of the European Union and corresponds to almost triple the size of Luxembourg or 10% of Ireland.

No other year had seen such a high amount of scorched earth in Europe until mid-August.

The area burned in Portugal until this Tuesday has already tripled that of the whole of last year, when about 26 thousand hectares burned, but far below the area burned in the country’s worst year in terms of fires: 2017, when 564 burned thousand hectares, more than half of the entire area burned in Europe that year.

Chart burned area Portugal comparison with other countries 2022