Portugal burns more than any other country in the European Union (EU), in absolute and relative terms. Between 2011 and 2023, 16.05% of the national territory was covered in flames, according to the data collected by the European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS). In a distant second place are other Southern European members: Greece (3.8%), Italy (3.2%), Croatia (3%), Spain (2.8%) and Cyprus (2.7%). The remaining countries present a percentage of area burned of below 1%.

This is the only conclusion that we can make when comparing the numbers relating to each EU country.  While the EFFIS has harmonized the causes of fire across different countries—which in theory should allow for comparisons—each state continues to catalogue incidents in their own way.

At country level, the data collected annually by the Portuguese Institute for Nature Conservation and Forests show that arson is the leading cause of burned area in Portugal, responsible for more than 50% of the land burned between 2011 and 2024, the consequence of 33,619 fires. In this same period, Castelo Branco, Guarda and Vila Real were the districts where arson burned most land.

After arson, 22.1% of fires had an unknown origin, 16.4% were caused by waste and vegetation management and agricultural burnings and 8.5% were caused by accidents involving electricity lines.

Formulas

% Total area burned between 2011 and 2024:
(total burned area of each country between 2011 and 2024)* 100

% Total area burned as a result of unknown causes:
(total hectares burned / total hectares burned with a known cause) * 100

% Total area burned as a result of arson:
(total hectares burned / total hectares burned with a known cause) * 100

% Total area burned as a result of electric lines:
(total hectares burned as a result of electric lines / total hectares burned with a known cause) * 100

% Total area burned as a result of agricultural burnings, vegetation and waste management fires:
(total hectares burned as a result of agricultural burnings, vegetation and waste management fires / total hectares burned with a known cause) * 100