Wildfires in 2025 ravaged an area nearly half the size of Sicily: These EU countries bore the brunt

This year, wildfires across the EU have burned an area nearly half the size of Sicily, according to the latest data from Copernicus' European Forest Fires Information System.

So far in 2025, about 986,000 hectares have gone up in flames, more than three times the 227,627 hectares recorded in the previous year, with nearly 2,000 blazes detected.

Since late February, the average monthly number of fires has been the highest on record.

Spain suffered the worst damage, with over 380,000 hectares burnt, roughly 1.5 times the size of the state of Luxembourg.

Portugal suffered even worse damage relative to its size, with around 263,000 hectares destroyed, about eight times the size of Malta.

The emergency prompted cross-country aid, with Maltese firefighters joining efforts in Portugal and Greece.

One of the latest interventions was reported on Sunday, in Corgas in central Portugal.

Which EU countries invest the most in fire protection?

Across the EU, there are almost 400,000 firefighters on duty, Eurostat reports. 

Germany has the largest force (66,000), followed by France (52,000), Poland (49,000)  and Italy (43,500).

However, the highest number of firefighters compared to the size of the job market is on the job in Croatia (0.45%), with Greece following second (0.41%).

The Netherlands comes in at the bottom with 0.08%.

Romania has biggest fire protection budget in EU

In terms of money, however, it's Romania that leads the way. 

Its government allocates nearly 1% of its budget to wildfire protection, followed by Estonia and Greece with 0.7%.

The countries with the lowest budget are Denmark (0.1%), Malta (0.2%), Portugal and Austria (both 0.3%). 

The average across the EU is 0.5%, on a total of €40 billion spent.