Lesotho vs Southern Africa: Historical exposure to drought — Land soil moisture anomaly
Historical exposure to drought — Land soil moisture anomaly over time
- Lesotho
- Southern Africa
How they compare
Lesotho currently reports 7.08 Percentage change against 4.17 Percentage change in Southern Africa, a difference of 2.91 Percentage change.
That makes Lesotho's figure about 1.7 times Southern Africa's.
The two have swapped places 27 times across 76 shared years of data; in 1950 it was Southern Africa ahead.
Lesotho ranks 1st and Southern Africa ranks 3rd of 72 countries.
Across the 8 decades both report, Lesotho averaged higher in 4 and Southern Africa in 4.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | Lesotho | Southern Africa | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1950s | -19.81 Percentage change | -11.59 Percentage change | 8.22 Percentage change | Southern Africa |
| 1960s | -2.92 Percentage change | -5.65 Percentage change | 2.72 Percentage change | Lesotho |
| 1970s | 5.65 Percentage change | 5.48 Percentage change | 0.171 Percentage change | Lesotho |
| 1980s | 0.4919 Percentage change | -1.18 Percentage change | 1.67 Percentage change | Lesotho |
| 1990s | -1.82 Percentage change | -1.72 Percentage change | 0.0984 Percentage change | Southern Africa |
| 2000s | 1.75 Percentage change | 2 Percentage change | 0.2439 Percentage change | Southern Africa |
| 2010s | -14.45 Percentage change | -4.8 Percentage change | 9.65 Percentage change | Southern Africa |
| 2020s | -0.4936 Percentage change | -1.76 Percentage change | 1.27 Percentage change | Lesotho |
Averages of every year both report within each decade.
Frequently asked questions
- Which has higher historical exposure to drought — land soil moisture anomaly, Lesotho or Southern Africa?
- Lesotho, at 7.08 Percentage change against 4.17 Percentage change in Southern Africa as of 2025.
- What is the difference in historical exposure to drought — land soil moisture anomaly between Lesotho and Southern Africa?
- 2.91 Percentage change, with Lesotho ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for Lesotho and Southern Africa?
- 76 years are reported by both, from 1950 to 2025.
- How do Lesotho and Southern Africa rank globally for historical exposure to drought — land soil moisture anomaly?
- Lesotho ranks 1st and Southern Africa ranks 3rd of 72 countries.
- Where does this data come from?
- Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, published as Historical exposure to drought — Land 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