Lesotho vs South Africa: Historical exposure to drought — Cropland soil moisture anomaly
Historical exposure to drought — Cropland soil moisture anomaly over time
- Lesotho
- South Africa
How they compare
South Africa currently reports 8.52 Percentage change against 7.72 Percentage change in Lesotho, a difference of 0.8 Percentage change.
That makes South Africa's figure about 1.1 times Lesotho's.
The two have swapped places 22 times across 76 shared years of data; in 1950 it was South Africa ahead.
Lesotho ranks 1st and South Africa ranks 4th of 72 countries.
Across the 8 decades both report, Lesotho averaged higher in 2 and South Africa in 6.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | Lesotho | South Africa | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1950s | -20.6 Percentage change | -8.93 Percentage change | 11.67 Percentage change | South Africa |
| 1960s | -4.15 Percentage change | -3.69 Percentage change | 0.4583 Percentage change | South Africa |
| 1970s | 6.05 Percentage change | 4.46 Percentage change | 1.59 Percentage change | Lesotho |
| 1980s | 0.684 Percentage change | 0.8314 Percentage change | 0.1475 Percentage change | South Africa |
| 1990s | -2.05 Percentage change | -1.51 Percentage change | 0.5417 Percentage change | South Africa |
| 2000s | 1.7 Percentage change | 0.42 Percentage change | 1.28 Percentage change | Lesotho |
| 2010s | -17.68 Percentage change | -8.19 Percentage change | 9.49 Percentage change | South Africa |
| 2020s | -0.1755 Percentage change | 0.6726 Percentage change | 0.8482 Percentage change | South Africa |
Averages of every year both report within each decade.
Frequently asked questions
- Which has higher historical exposure to drought — cropland soil moisture anomaly, Lesotho or South Africa?
- South Africa, at 8.52 Percentage change against 7.72 Percentage change in Lesotho as of 2025.
- What is the difference in historical exposure to drought — cropland soil moisture anomaly between Lesotho and South Africa?
- 0.8 Percentage change, with South Africa ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for Lesotho and South Africa?
- 76 years are reported by both, from 1950 to 2025.
- How do Lesotho and South Africa rank globally for historical exposure to drought — cropland soil moisture anomaly?
- Lesotho ranks 1st and South Africa ranks 4th of 72 countries.
- Where does this data come from?
- Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, published as Historical exposure to drought — Cropland soil moisture anomaly. Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.
Individual pages
About this data
The dataset provides annual anomalies in land and cropland soil moisture content of the top soil layer (0 to 7 cm) compared to the reference period 1981-2010. Exposure indicators to drought have been prepared by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Please see the working paper for a more complete description of the methods. The datasets span the period 1981-2024 and is the result of the use of a variety of geospatial data sources, including the ERA5-Land averaged monthly data of volumetric soil moisture and ESA CCI land cover data. Average anomalies have been calculated for both land and cropland exposure to drought. The dataset has a global coverage on a national level; on the sub-national TL2 level (i.e. large subnational regions) results are reported for all OECD countries as well as for Argentina, Brazil, China, India, Indonesia and South Africa. A number of aggregates are included: Euro area, European Union, Advanced economies, Emerging market economies, G7, G20, OECD, OECD Europe, OECD Asia Oceania, OECD Americas and the LAC region. Data source(s): Copernicus Climate Change Initiative land cover data and Copernicus Climate Data Store monthly soil moisture data based on the ERA5-Land reanalysis dataset. Contact: ENV.Stat@oecd.org