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Glaciers on active volcanoes are subject to changes in both climate fluctuations and volcanic activity. Whereas many studies analysed changes on individual volcanoes, this study presents for the first time a comparison of glacier changes on active volcanoes on a continental scale. Glacier areas were mapped for 59 volcanoes across Latin America around 1986, 1999 and 2015 using a semi-automated band ratio method combined with manual editing using satellite images from Landsat 4/5/7/8 and Sentinel-2. Area changes were compared with the Smithsonian volcano database to analyse possible glacier-volcano interactions. Over the full period, the mapped area changed from 1399.3 +/- 80 km(2) to 1016.1 +/- 34 km(2) (-383.2 km(2)) or -27.4% (-0.92% a(-1)) in relative terms. Small glaciers, especially in tropical regions lost more of their area compared to large and extra-tropical glaciers. Interestingly, 46 out of 59 analysed glaciers (78%) showed a decelerating shrinkage rate in the second period (-1.20% a(-1) before 1999 and -0.70% a(-1) after 1999). We found a slightly higher (but statistically not significant) area loss rate (-1.03% a(-1)) for glaciers on volcanoes with eruptions than without (-0.86% a(-1)).