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Indonesia: health impact of wildfire smoke

This dossier follows health assessments of fire-related air pollution in Indonesia. It distinguishes modelled deaths from individually recorded deaths and identifies the periods studied.

Last updated : 1 key moments

Where things stand

The CREA study published on 29 October and reported on 30 October estimates 3,560 fire-smoke-related deaths in September 2026. This estimate is not an official death toll.

Indonesia: study estimates 3,560 deaths linked to fire smoke in September

Smoke from fires in Indonesia may have caused about 3,560 deaths in September 2026, according to a Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) study published on 29 October and reported on 30 October. This is a statistical estimate, not an official count.

Darussalam Mosque in Palangkaraya amid haze in 2015.
Palangkaraya, 3 October 2015. Archive haze photograph; it does not depict the 2026 fires. — Franky Acil Zamzani / Wikimedia Commons — domaine public ; 3 octobre 2015, sans modification.

The assessment covers short-term effects of fine PM2.5 particles, within days of exposure. CREA separately estimates 1,750 deaths from non-fire pollution sources, bringing the September total to 5,310.

The researchers combine particle concentrations, population exposure and relationships between pollution and mortality. They do not count individually identified victims.

At the month's peak, 57.8 million people were estimated to be breathing air classified as unhealthy to hazardous. According to AFP, the government has neither confirmed nor rejected the mortality estimate.

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