Forest fires

Forest area burnt in the year, hectares per 1,000 km² of land, 2025

2,311 of the 2,626 hectares of German forest that burnt in 2025 were in the five eastern states (88%), although they cover 30% of the country. Saxony alone lost 1,894 ha; Brandenburg had the most fires (317). Per 1,000 km² the East burnt 16.5 times as much forest as the West.

< 17.117.134.251.468.5≥ 85.6

Inner-German border 1949–1990 ·16 states · 2025

Former West

1.3

excl. Berlin

Former East

21.4

excl. Berlin

Berlin

0.0

Germany

7.3

Figures in ha per 1,000 km²

The East's figure is 16.5× the West's (2025).

By state

Former WestFormer EastBerlin

Sachsen102.7
Brandenburg8.5
Thüringen5.3
Sachsen-Anhalt3.4
Bayern3.2
Nordrhein-Westfalen1.5
Hessen0.7
Mecklenburg-Vorpommern0.4
Niedersachsen0.3
Rheinland-Pfalz0.2
Baden-Württemberg0.2
Saarland0.0
Berlin0.0
Schleswig-Holstein0.0
Hamburg0.0
Bremen0.0

2025

Notes & caveats

Figures from BLE's Waldbrandstatistik 2025 (Table 1B) as reproduced by the Umweltbundesamt; they add up exactly to BLE's published totals (1,175 fires, 2,626 ha). BLE's own table was offline when we accessed it.
Hectares burnt divided by each state's total land area (not forest area) — our calculation.
Single years swing a lot: one large fire can decide a state's figure. Saxony burnt 10 ha in 2024 and 1,894 ha in 2025; Brandenburg burnt 1,426 ha in 2022.

Use this data

Free to republish under CC BY 4.0. Please credit Germany Divided and the original source.

Germany Divided (2026). "Forest fires". Data: Bundesanstalt für Landwirtschaft und Ernährung (BLE), via Umweltbundesamt; Bundesanstalt für Landwirtschaft und Ernährung (BLE); Statistische Ämter des Bundes und der Länder (Regionaldatenbank). https://germanydivided.com/themes/forest-fires/

Sources

Bundesanstalt für Landwirtschaft und Ernährung (BLE), via Umweltbundesamt: Waldbrandstatistik der Bundesrepublik Deutschland 2025, Tabelle 1B (Waldbrände und Waldbrandfläche nach Ländern), as charted by the Umweltbundesamt, 26.08.2026 · BLE Waldbrandstatistik 2025, Tab. 1B · © BLE / Umweltbundesamt; reproduction with source attribution · accessed 2026-11-07
Bundesanstalt für Landwirtschaft und Ernährung (BLE): Pressemitteilung Nr. 38 vom 30.06.2026: Waldbrandstatistik 2025 · Totals: 1,175 fires, 2,626 ha · accessed 2026-11-07
Statistische Ämter des Bundes und der Länder (Regionaldatenbank): Bodenfläche nach Art der tatsächlichen Nutzung, Kreise, 31.12.2022 (total area, summed by state) · 33111-01-02-4 · Datenlizenz Deutschland – Namensnennung – Version 2.0 (dl-de/by-2-0) · accessed 2026-11-07

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Reference year 2025

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Show the table

State	Side	2025
Saarland	west	0.0 ha per 1,000 km²
Berlin	berlin	0.0 ha per 1,000 km²
Brandenburg	east	8.5 ha per 1,000 km²
Mecklenburg-Vorpommern	east	0.4 ha per 1,000 km²
Sachsen	east	102.7 ha per 1,000 km²
Sachsen-Anhalt	east	3.4 ha per 1,000 km²
Thüringen	east	5.3 ha per 1,000 km²
Schleswig-Holstein	west	0.0 ha per 1,000 km²
Hamburg	west	0.0 ha per 1,000 km²
Niedersachsen	west	0.3 ha per 1,000 km²
Bremen	west	0.0 ha per 1,000 km²
Nordrhein-Westfalen	west	1.5 ha per 1,000 km²
Hessen	west	0.7 ha per 1,000 km²
Rheinland-Pfalz	west	0.2 ha per 1,000 km²
Baden-Württemberg	west	0.2 ha per 1,000 km²
Bayern	west	3.2 ha per 1,000 km²