Northern Europe vs Zimbabwe: Historical exposure to drought — Cropland soil moisture anomaly
Historical exposure to drought — Cropland soil moisture anomaly over time
- Northern Europe
- Zimbabwe
How they compare
Zimbabwe currently reports 3.29 Percentage change against -1.04 Percentage change in Northern Europe, a difference of 4.33 Percentage change.
That makes Zimbabwe's figure about 3.1 times Northern Europe's.
The two have swapped places 36 times across 76 shared years of data; in 1950 it was Zimbabwe ahead.
Northern Europe ranks 16th and Zimbabwe ranks 16th of 72 groups.
Across the 8 decades both report, Northern Europe averaged higher in 5 and Zimbabwe in 3.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | Northern Europe | Zimbabwe | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1950s | -1.86 Percentage change | -5.74 Percentage change | 3.88 Percentage change | Northern Europe |
| 1960s | -0.4117 Percentage change | -9.65 Percentage change | 9.24 Percentage change | Northern Europe |
| 1970s | -0.7293 Percentage change | 3 Percentage change | 3.73 Percentage change | Zimbabwe |
| 1980s | 1.55 Percentage change | -0.5899 Percentage change | 2.14 Percentage change | Northern Europe |
| 1990s | -1.47 Percentage change | -1.17 Percentage change | 0.3011 Percentage change | Zimbabwe |
| 2000s | 0.2132 Percentage change | 1.07 Percentage change | 0.8617 Percentage change | Zimbabwe |
| 2010s | -0.0965 Percentage change | -1.41 Percentage change | 1.31 Percentage change | Northern Europe |
| 2020s | 0.0002 Percentage change | -4.42 Percentage change | 4.42 Percentage change | Northern Europe |
Averages of every year both report within each decade.
Frequently asked questions
- Which has higher historical exposure to drought — cropland soil moisture anomaly, Northern Europe or Zimbabwe?
- Zimbabwe, at 3.29 Percentage change against -1.04 Percentage change in Northern Europe as of 2025.
- What is the difference in historical exposure to drought — cropland soil moisture anomaly between Northern Europe and Zimbabwe?
- 4.33 Percentage change, with Zimbabwe ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for Northern Europe and Zimbabwe?
- 76 years are reported by both, from 1950 to 2025.
- How do Northern Europe and Zimbabwe rank globally for historical exposure to drought — cropland soil moisture anomaly?
- Northern Europe ranks 16th and Zimbabwe ranks 16th of 72 groups.
- 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