The Hottest Countries in the World, Ranked by Average Temperature
The hottest country on Earth is Burkina Faso, which averages 30.4°C (86.7°F) across the entire year — hotter, on average, than anywhere else on the planet. The catch: the hottest-on-average countries are not the ones that hold the record for the single highest temperature. Here is the full ranking, and why the two answers are different.
The 15 hottest countries by average temperature
Ranked by average annual temperature from the World Bank Group's climate data (1991–2020 climate normals, via the compiled list of countries by average yearly temperature). This is the honest answer to “hottest country”: a year-round average, not a one-day spike.
| # | Country | Avg. annual temp | Region |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Burkina Faso | 30.4°C / 86.7°F | West Africa (Sahel) |
| 2 | Mali | 29.2°C / 84.6°F | West Africa (Sahel) |
| 3 | Aruba | 29.2°C / 84.5°F | Southern Caribbean |
| 4 | Senegal | 28.9°C / 84.0°F | West Africa |
| 5 | Mauritania | 28.8°C / 83.9°F | West Africa (Sahara) |
| 6 | Tokelau | 28.7°C / 83.7°F | Tropical Pacific |
| 7 | Tuvalu | 28.6°C / 83.5°F | Tropical Pacific |
| 8 | Djibouti | 28.5°C / 83.3°F | Horn of Africa |
| 9 | Curaçao | 28.4°C / 83.1°F | Southern Caribbean |
| 10 | Gambia | 28.4°C / 83.1°F | West Africa |
| 11 | United Arab Emirates | 28.2°C / 82.7°F | Arabian Peninsula |
| 12 | Maldives | 28.1°C / 82.6°F | Indian Ocean |
| 13 | Niger | 28.0°C / 82.5°F | West Africa (Sahel/Sahara) |
| 14 | Benin | 28.0°C / 82.4°F | West Africa |
| 15 | Qatar | 28.0°C / 82.4°F | Arabian Peninsula |
Source: World Bank Group climate data, 1991–2020 climate normals (derived from Climatic Research Unit gridded climatology), via the compiled list of countries by average yearly temperature. Values rounded.
Average vs. record: two different questions
Ask most people for the hottest country and they picture a record-breaking day — Death Valley or a Gulf heat wave. But “hottest country” by any sensible measure means hottest on average, and that crown goes to the Sahel, not the record-setters. The United States holds the planet's official high-temperature record yet ranks nowhere near the hottest countries by average temperature, because it also has cold winters across most of the country. Here are the record highs that get confused with the list above:
| Place | Temperature | Date | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Death Valley, USA | 56.7°C / 134°F | July 10, 1913 | WMO-recognized world record (reliability debated). |
| Death Valley, USA | 54.4°C / 130°F | Aug 2020 & July 2021 | Hottest reliably measured air temperature of the modern era. |
| Mitribah, Kuwait | 54.0°C / 129.2°F | July 21, 2016 | WMO-certified record for Asia / the Eastern Hemisphere. |
Source: WMO Global Weather & Climate Extremes Archive. For the full ranked list of all-time highs, see our hottest temperatures ever recorded and the point-by-point hottest places on Earth.
Why these countries are the hottest
Three ingredients make a country hot year-round, and the leaders have all three. First, latitude: the hottest countries sit within about 15 degrees of the equator, where the sun is nearly overhead all year and day length barely changes. Second, no cooling ocean influence over the interior — Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger are landlocked Sahel states with vast, dry interiors that bake. Third, the absence of a cold season: unlike the Arabian Gulf (which posts higher single-day extremes but cools in winter), the Sahel never really cools down, so its annual average stays higher.
That is why small tropical island nations — Tuvalu, Tokelau, the Maldives, Aruba — also rank so high. They never set heat records because the surrounding ocean caps their daytime highs, but that same ocean keeps their nights and winters warm, pulling their year-round average up near 29°C.
The hottest country on each continent
- Africa: Burkina Faso (30.4°C) — also the hottest country on Earth, with Mali and Senegal close behind.
- Asia / Middle East: the United Arab Emirates (28.2°C) and Qatar (28.0°C) lead, though Kuwait holds Asia's record high.
- North America & Caribbean: Aruba and Curaçao (around 28–29°C); on the mainland, see our ranking of the hottest states and cities in America.
- Oceania: the tiny Pacific nations of Tokelau and Tuvalu (around 28.6°C).
- Europe: no European country comes close to this list, but the continent still posts brutal heat waves — see the hottest temperatures ever recorded in Europe.
So which is “the hottest”?
It depends on the question you are actually asking. If you want the country where it is hottest to live, day in and day out, the answer is Burkina Faso, with the Sahel and the tropical Pacific islands right behind. If you want the single hottest moment ever measured, that is Death Valley in the United States — a country whose cold winters keep it off the average-temperature list entirely. The two answers point to opposite ends of the Earth, which is exactly why the SERP for “hottest country” is such a mess. Now you have both, sourced.
Common questions
What is the hottest country in the world?
By average annual temperature, Burkina Faso is the hottest country in the world at about 30.4°C (86.7°F), according to World Bank climate data (1991–2020 normals). Mali (29.2°C) and the Caribbean island of Aruba (29.2°C) follow. These are hottest by year-round average — not the places that have recorded the single highest temperature.
What is the hottest temperature ever recorded in a country?
The highest air temperature ever recorded is 56.7°C (134°F) at Furnace Creek in Death Valley, California, on July 10, 1913 — the WMO-recognized world record, though its reliability is debated. The highest verified for Asia is 54.0°C (129.2°F) at Mitribah, Kuwait, on July 21, 2016, and Death Valley hit 54.4°C (130°F) in 2020 and 2021, the hottest reliably measured in the modern era.
Why is Burkina Faso hotter than Saudi Arabia or Kuwait on average?
Saudi Arabia and Kuwait record higher single-day extremes, but they have genuine (if brief) cooler seasons. The Sahel countries — Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger — sit just south of the Sahara at low latitude with no real cold season and relentless sun, so their year-round average is higher even though their peak days are a few degrees lower.