Malawi vs Western Africa: Historical exposure to drought — Cropland soil moisture anomaly
Historical exposure to drought — Cropland soil moisture anomaly over time
- Malawi
- Western Africa
How they compare
Malawi currently reports -0.8098 Percentage change against -6.59 Percentage change in Western Africa, a difference of 5.78 Percentage change.
The two have swapped places 32 times across 76 shared years of data; in 1950 it was Malawi ahead.
Malawi ranks 52nd and Western Africa ranks 49th of 168 countries.
Across the 8 decades both report, Malawi averaged higher in 3 and Western Africa in 5.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | Malawi | Western Africa | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1950s | -4.8 Percentage change | 1.51 Percentage change | 6.31 Percentage change | Western Africa |
| 1960s | -4.59 Percentage change | 1.39 Percentage change | 5.98 Percentage change | Western Africa |
| 1970s | 1.01 Percentage change | 4.19 Percentage change | 3.18 Percentage change | Western Africa |
| 1980s | 2.02 Percentage change | 1.92 Percentage change | 0.098 Percentage change | Malawi |
| 1990s | -2.16 Percentage change | 1.06 Percentage change | 3.22 Percentage change | Western Africa |
| 2000s | -0.1114 Percentage change | -2.47 Percentage change | 2.36 Percentage change | Malawi |
| 2010s | -1.58 Percentage change | -0.9612 Percentage change | 0.6154 Percentage change | Western Africa |
| 2020s | -1.51 Percentage change | -6.22 Percentage change | 4.71 Percentage change | Malawi |
Averages of every year both report within each decade.
Frequently asked questions
- Which has higher historical exposure to drought — cropland soil moisture anomaly, Malawi or Western Africa?
- Malawi, at -0.8098 Percentage change against -6.59 Percentage change in Western Africa as of 2025.
- What is the difference in historical exposure to drought — cropland soil moisture anomaly between Malawi and Western Africa?
- 5.78 Percentage change, with Malawi ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for Malawi and Western Africa?
- 76 years are reported by both, from 1950 to 2025.
- How do Malawi and Western Africa rank globally for historical exposure to drought — cropland soil moisture anomaly?
- Malawi ranks 52nd and Western Africa ranks 49th of 168 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