The bushfire crisis has captured the attention of Australians more than any other news event in the past decade, according to an analysis of Google searches.

Key points: Bushfire searches were almost twice as popular as the next most-clicked search

Bushfire searches were almost twice as popular as the next most-clicked search Interest in bushfires rose more than 500 per cent over the past three months

Interest in bushfires rose more than 500 per cent over the past three months Global interest in Australia soared by 340 per cent in the first week of 2020, compared to usual levels

The data captures what Australians have been asking the platform from January 1, 2010 until December 31, 2019.

Searches relating to this summer's blazes easily eclipsed the 2018 Royal wedding, the downing of MH370 and the 2016 US presidential election.

Here's the five most popular topics from the past decade, listed in order:

Bushfires (December 2019)

Bushfires (December 2019) US election (November 2016)

US election (November 2016) Australian census (August 2016)

Australian census (August 2016) Bitcoin price run (December 2017)

Bitcoin price run (December 2017) MH370 (March 2014)

There has been unprecedented online interest in Australia's bushfires. ( Supplied: Horsley Park Rural Fire Brigade )

Anna Freeland, the trends data curator at Google Australia, said search interest in bushfires had increased more than 500 per cent over the past three months, compared to usual monthly thresholds.

"Prior to this bushfire season, the highest peak in search interest for bushfires was in February 2009 during the Black Saturday fires," she said.

"Then in early November 2019, that record was eclipsed.

"On January 4, search interest for bushfires climbed to more than 37 times the peak of the Black Saturday fires."

This graph shows how much more popular Google searches about bushfires were than other major news events in the past 10 years.

Google's data from the past 10 years in Austraila.

The data is based on search "entities" — where terms such as "fires" and "bushfires" are rolled into one topic — rather than specific words.

Once the most popular entity is found, others are ranked against it.

The data revealed searches about bushfires were almost twice as popular as the 2016 US election, which was the next most clicked-on.

Last year, people searched the phrase "fires near me" 11 times more than "how to vote".

The internet giant did not provide precise figures on the amount of people using its search engines.

International interest spikes

Internationally, more people have been searching for "Australia" in the past month than at any other point on record.

Global interest in our country soared by 340 per cent in the first week of 2020, compared to usual levels.

Most searches were related to how the fires had affected animals, and the best charities to donate to.

"Things like, 'How many animals died in Australia fire?' and 'How to help Australia fires' as well as queries about bushfire appeals were the most trending questions in the past month," Ms Freeland said.

"When you look at the top related search terms, it's clear that people are looking not just for emergency information and news, but ways to help."

The plight of Australia's animals has made global headlines. ( ABC News )

Prime Minister Scott Morrison also became a trending topic during the fires.

Search interest in him surged throughout December, increasing by 195 per cent compared with November.

Interest in the Prime Minister skyrocketed again, both locally and internationally, after video of his awkward handshakes in Cobargo on January 3 went viral.

However, the data showed Australians were more engaged with news with the politics inside the White House than in Canberra.

The second most trending search by Australians in the past decade was the US Presidential election in 2016, which was searched twice as much as May's federal election.

A close third were search terms relating to the Australian census in August 2016 — the first time the survey could be completed online.