Climate Change Overview

Country Summary

This page presents high-level information for Brunei Darussalam's climate zones and its seasonal cycle for mean temperature and precipitation for the latest climatology, 1991-2020. Climate zone classifications are derived from the Köppen-Geiger climate classification system, which divides climates into five main climate groups divided based on seasonal precipitation and temperature patterns. The five main groups are A (tropical), B (dry), C (temperate), D (continental), and E (polar). All climates except for those in the E group are assigned a seasonal precipitation sub-group (second letter).  Climate classifications are identified by hovering your mouse over the legend. A narrative overview of Brunei Darussalam's country context and climate is provided following the visualizations.

Brunei Darussalam is located on the northwest coast of the island of Borneo in South East Asia between latitude 4°30’N and longitude 114°04’E, approximately 442 kilometers north of the Equator. It has a total land area of 5,765 square kilometers and a coastline of 168 kilometers bounded by the South China Sea on the north and the East Malaysian states of Sarawak and Sabah on the east and west, respectively. The country has hilly lowlands and peat swamp forests in the west, rugged mountains in the east, and swampy, flat plain along the coast. The southern part largely comprises of mountains with summit levels ranging between 700 and 900 meters. Brunei Darussalam has developed its economy around the production and export of oil and gas given that the country has vast hydrocarbon reserves relative to its population size. The export of oil and gas remains the largest contributor to the country’s income. The non-oil and gas sector, mainly the service sector, contributed a third of Brunei Darussalam’s GDP in 2017. The population of Brunei is 470,000 (2021) inhabitants with an annual growth rate of 1.27%. With increasing global surface mean temperature and weather variability due to global warming, Brunei Darussalam is vulnerable to the following impacts: flooding, landslides and strong wind, loss of forestry and biodiversity, loss of food security, and public health impacts from the resurgence of diseases.