The ASEAN Haze Monitor tracks fires, smoke, economic impact and government action.

Southern ASEAN remains under its highest haze alert, and South Sumatra leads the fire count. The alert is set by the ASEAN Specialised Meteorological Centre (ASMC), the region’s official haze watch. The map shows Indonesian provinces by fire hotspots on 16 October and the latest official air readings in Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore, each with its date.

Regional haze alertLevel 3ASEAN Specialised Meteorological Centre (ASMC) · since 26 Aug 2026

Fire hotspots by province, 16 Oct 2026No hotspots that dayLatest official air reading, 21 Oct 2026

Sources: hotspots, Indonesia Ministry of Forestry via BusinessToday, 17 Oct 2026 (counts at 21:00 WIB, 16 Oct); Indonesia ISPU, Ministry of Environment; Singapore PSI, National Environment Agency; Malaysia API, Department of Environment (highest Johor station, latest hour); alert, ASEAN Specialised Meteorological Centre (ASMC).

Satellite fire hotspots counted by ASMC (NOAA-20 satellite, daytime, high confidence), 20 Oct 2026: Kalimantan 340, Sumatra 134, Viet Nam 22, Thailand 10, Philippines 8, Sabah and Sarawak 4, Cambodia 4, Lao PDR 2, Myanmar 2.

122Singapore’s highest 24-hour PSI, 21 Oct 2026National Environment Agency

31 daysof unhealthy air in Singapore since 4 Sep 2026NEA via data.gov.sg

27 of 64Malaysian stations unhealthy, 24 hours to 15:00 on 18 OctDepartment of Environment

117,479fire hotspots in Indonesia, 1 Jan to 17 Oct 2026NASA FIRMS · provisional

Indonesia has recorded the most fire hotspots in ASEAN in 2026, and Myanmar the second most. Each dot counts vegetation-fire hotspots detected by NASA satellites from 1 January to 17 October 2026, on a stretched (logarithmic) scale so that small and very large counts both stay readable. Indonesia’s fires drive the haze now over Malaysia and Singapore.

South Sumatra recorded 132 hotspots on 16 October, the most of any Indonesian province. Bubbles show fire hotspots by province, counted by Indonesia’s Ministry of Forestry at 21:00 Western Indonesia Time on 16 October.

Satellite photos show smoke covering Sumatra and Borneo through October. NASA satellites photograph the region every day. The smoke shows as the grey-brown layer beneath the white clouds.

Indonesia’s 2026 fire count is the third-highest since 2001 for the same period of the year. Each point counts vegetation-fire hotspots in Indonesia from 1 January to 17 October of that year, so every year is compared over the same weeks. Select a year for its count.

Indonesia and the Philippines recorded hazardous air, and Singapore very unhealthy air, in the latest official readings. Each government publishes its own air-quality index. aseanx places each country’s worst latest reading on one five-step scale, using that government’s own health category. Select a country for its reading.

Indonesia’s fire count and fine-particle pollution downwind have risen together, to 84 micrograms per cubic metre in Singapore in October 2026, the highest month since its records began in 2014. That is about seven times Singapore’s typical month (a median of 12 in 2022–2025), 5.6 times the World Health Organization’s 24-hour guideline of 15, and above the 2015 haze peak of 69. Both countries are measured the same way: the average fine-particle (PM2.5) level across the month. Indonesia’s fire count sits above on the same timeline, and the dotted lines mark the 2015, 2019, 2023 and 2026 fire seasons. Malaysia’s national series runs from January 2018 to December 2024; October 2026 covers 1 to 17 October. Select any month or year for its figure.

Sarawak’s air swung between moderate and unhealthy over the past seven days, while Singapore’s stayed very unhealthy for most of the past four. Each line is the worst reading each hour. Singapore’s PSI is a 24-hour average; Malaysia’s API is the highest hourly reading at any station. Both use the same bands. Select any point in time for every reading at that hour.

Palembang’s air worsened through the day to a hazardous 352 by 21:00. Indonesia’s ISPU, Malaysia’s API and Singapore’s PSI share the same bands, so the cities can be compared on one scale. Indonesian readings use the higher of the PM10 and PM2.5 index each hour. Times are Malaysia time. Select any hour for every reading.

Palangka Raya in Central Kalimantan recorded an air index of 4,140, more than eight times the 500 at which the index scale ends. Indonesia’s ISPU, Malaysia’s API and the PSI of Singapore and Brunei share the same bands: above 100 is unhealthy, above 200 very unhealthy and above 300 hazardous. The index scale itself ends at 500, so this chart uses a stretched (logarithmic) scale that keeps readings beyond 500 on the chart; Palangka Raya sits far beyond the hazardous band. Select a dot for its time and source.

Fine-particle pollution in Palangka Raya reached 1,470 micrograms per cubic metre in one hour on 18 October. PM2.5 is the fine smoke particle most harmful to health, measured in micrograms per cubic metre. Each dot is a one-hour reading, on a stretched (logarithmic) scale. The dotted line marks the World Health Organization’s 24-hour guideline of 15.

Indonesia and Malaysia have both recorded hazardous peaks since the haze season began in August. Each dot is the highest official reading aseanx has found for that market since 1 August 2026, on the shared band scale. The Philippines reported its top category, Emergency, in Zamboanga City on 14 October, without a published number. Select a dot for the date and source.

Seven of the eleven markets have officially reported haze from the Indonesian fires this season. Each market is coloured by the most severe impact its own government has reported. Hover over or tap a market for the detail and the source.

Smoke closed schools, cut airport visibility and pushed one Sarawak district into an emergency. Each entry is a reported local impact with its date and source.

CELIOS, an Indonesian research centre, puts the losses from the 2026 fires to August at US$2.2–6.8 billion, before the peak months. Three published studies measure the economic impact of Indonesia’s fires. The 2026 estimate, as reported, covers January to August only, so it leaves out September and October, when about two thirds of this year’s fire hotspots were detected. Select a study for what it covers and its source.

Indonesian ministries have acted against hundreds of licence holders, but published few names. Each row is an action as reported by the authority, with its count and a link to the authority’s own page. aseanx cannot independently verify these reports.

Indonesia’s government has reported the full names of 10 licence holders and the initials of 6 more. Each number on the map matches a regency or province in the list. Only names published on an Indonesian government website appear, as reported there. A sanction is an administrative decision, not a court verdict.

The nine licence holders whose concession size Indonesia published each hold 3,812 to 136,710 hectares, far beyond a smallholding. Indonesia’s Ministry of Forestry describes each named company as the holder of a forest utilisation business licence (PBPH), and gives the size of each concession. Under Indonesian rules, an oil palm plot under 25 hectares needs only registration with the district, not a business licence. Each dot is one of the nine concessions whose size the ministry published.

Singapore has reported serving notices on 7 Indonesian companies under its haze law. Singapore’s Transboundary Haze Pollution Act lets the National Environment Agency act against companies whose fires cause haze in Singapore.

aseanx has traced 46 government actions on the haze since 1997, at three levels. Each dot is one action, traced to the source that reported it, and only years with an action are shown: 22 domestic, 11 bilateral and 13 multilateral. Select a dot to read the action and open its source.

Every action links to the record it comes from. Newest first. Each action is described as reported by the source linked beside it; aseanx cannot independently verify these reports.

Indonesia moved from declining foreign help in August to accepting help and responsibility in mid-October, as Malaysia and Singapore pressed for action. Each dot is one public statement by a government, an NGO or researcher, a business or a health body, from 1 August to 18 October 2026. 38 statements from nine markets are recorded. Select a dot for what was said and the report it comes from.

The sharpest disagreement is about enforcement and disclosure, not about the facts of the fires. Each row sets out one open question and the opposing positions taken in the statements recorded below.

Every statement links to the report it comes from. Newest first.

Rain, not policy, has ended every major haze season, and the 2026 rains are forecast to arrive late. This assessment does not forecast hotspots. It sets out how past seasons ended, what the weather agencies expect, which measures have worked, and what ASEAN has and has not done.

Fires in Indonesia fell by more than 80% within two weeks once the rain arrived in 2015. Each line shows Indonesia’s average daily fire hotspots in each half-month from July to December. Early October 2026 averaged 1,713 a day, against 1,684 in the same weeks of 2015; on 16 and 17 October 2026 it fell to about 800 a day.

The agencies expect the winds to turn away from Malaysia and Singapore before the rain reaches the fire zones. Each line is the agency’s own published outlook.

Rewetted peat burns less, but enforcement, foreign help and the regional treaty have changed little. Each measure is judged on the published evidence.

ASEAN has built agreements, roadmaps and a centre, but none can compel a member to act. The record since the 2002 haze agreement.

The haze is likely to ease with the monsoon, and five steps would change the next season. The left column is aseanx’s view of what is likely. The right column is what would make the next season different.

aseanx builds the monitor from official government and satellite data, and labels every figure it calculates itself as an aseanx estimate. How each part of the monitor is made.

Every figure on the monitor links back to a dated source. Official sources are listed first.