Exposure to drought — Land soil moisture anomaly in OECD
OECD: Exposure to drought — Land soil moisture anomaly was -1.2 Percentage change in 2024. ◆ Volatile
Exposure to drought — Land soil moisture anomaly in OECD, 1981–2024
Source: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Measured in Percentage change.
Analysis
The most recent figure for exposure to drought — land soil moisture anomaly in OECD is -1.2 Percentage change, measured in 2024.
That represents a change of up 62.6% on the previous year and down 42.0% over ten years.
Over the whole period, exposure to drought — land soil moisture anomaly in OECD peaked at 2.73 Percentage change in 1984 and was at its lowest, -3.2 Percentage change, in 2023.
OECD ranks 95th of 193 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The series is highly variable year to year, so single readings are best treated with caution.
Exposure to drought — Land soil moisture anomaly in OECD, year by year
| Year | Percentage change | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1981 | 1.27 Percentage change | — |
| 1982 | 0.6818 Percentage change | -46.4% |
| 1983 | 2.3 Percentage change | +237.0% |
| 1984 | 2.73 Percentage change | +18.9% |
| 1985 | 1.56 Percentage change | -42.8% |
| 1986 | 2.24 Percentage change | +43.7% |
| 1987 | 0.9771 Percentage change | -56.5% |
| 1988 | -0.7778 Percentage change | -179.6% |
| 1989 | -0.8304 Percentage change | +6.8% |
| 1990 | -0.9646 Percentage change | +16.2% |
| 1991 | -0.2002 Percentage change | -79.2% |
| 1992 | 1.07 Percentage change | -632.9% |
| 1993 | 1.21 Percentage change | +13.5% |
| 1994 | -2.3 Percentage change | -290.4% |
| 1995 | 0.1998 Percentage change | -108.7% |
| 1996 | 0.6506 Percentage change | +225.6% |
| 1997 | 1.24 Percentage change | +90.5% |
| 1998 | 1.28 Percentage change | +3.6% |
| 1999 | -0.8679 Percentage change | -167.6% |
| 2000 | 0.4203 Percentage change | -148.4% |
| 2001 | -0.7945 Percentage change | -289.0% |
| 2002 | -2.57 Percentage change | +223.0% |
| 2003 | -1.41 Percentage change | -45.1% |
| 2004 | 0.2885 Percentage change | -120.5% |
| 2005 | -1.35 Percentage change | -567.0% |
| 2006 | -2.15 Percentage change | +59.4% |
| 2007 | -2.04 Percentage change | -5.2% |
| 2008 | -1.93 Percentage change | -5.3% |
| 2009 | -1.28 Percentage change | -33.4% |
| 2010 | 1.33 Percentage change | -203.7% |
| 2011 | -0.572 Percentage change | -143.0% |
| 2012 | -2.83 Percentage change | +394.9% |
| 2013 | -1.45 Percentage change | -48.8% |
| 2014 | -0.8426 Percentage change | -41.8% |
| 2015 | -0.9493 Percentage change | +12.7% |
| 2016 | 0.3959 Percentage change | -141.7% |
| 2017 | -1.14 Percentage change | -387.7% |
| 2018 | -1.84 Percentage change | +61.7% |
| 2019 | -1.93 Percentage change | +4.5% |
| 2020 | -2.02 Percentage change | +4.9% |
| 2021 | -1.2 Percentage change | -40.5% |
| 2022 | -2.03 Percentage change | +68.8% |
| 2023 | -3.2 Percentage change | +57.9% |
| 2024 | -1.2 Percentage change | -62.6% |
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Exposure to drought — Land soil moisture anomaly in OECD changed far more than this series normally does. A large move can be a real event or a change in how the figure was measured — the source note below says who published it.
| Year | Change | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1992 | +632.9% | -0.2002 Percentage change | 1.07 Percentage change |
| 2005 | -567.0% | 0.2885 Percentage change | -1.35 Percentage change |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980s | 1.13 Percentage change | -0.8304 Percentage change | 2.73 Percentage change | 9 |
| 1990s | 0.1314 Percentage change | -2.3 Percentage change | 1.28 Percentage change | 10 |
| 2000s | -1.28 Percentage change | -2.57 Percentage change | 0.4203 Percentage change | 10 |
| 2010s | -0.9822 Percentage change | -2.83 Percentage change | 1.33 Percentage change | 10 |
| 2020s | -1.93 Percentage change | -3.2 Percentage change | -1.2 Percentage change | 5 |
Countries ranked near OECD
More environment data for OECD
- Historical exposure to drought — Land soil moisture anomaly -2.62 Percentage change (2025)
- Historical exposure to drought — Cropland soil moisture anomaly -3.17 Percentage change (2025)
- Standard Deviation, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Standard Deviation 0.312 °C (2025)
- Temperature change 2.18 °C (2025)
- Cropland — Area 382,348 1000 ha (2024)
- Cropland — Share in Land area 11.21 % (2024)
- Agricultural land — Value of agricultural production (Int. $) per Area 915.76 USD_PPP/ha (2024)
- Agricultural land — Share in Land area 34.15 % (2024)
- Agricultural land — Area 1.16 million 1000 ha (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is exposure to drought — land soil moisture anomaly in OECD?
- Exposure to drought — land soil moisture anomaly in OECD was -1.2 Percentage change in 2024, according to Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
- What is the highest exposure to drought — land soil moisture anomaly recorded in OECD?
- The highest recorded value was 2.73 Percentage change in 1984.
- What is the lowest exposure to drought — land soil moisture anomaly recorded in OECD?
- The lowest recorded value was -3.2 Percentage change in 2023.
- How does OECD rank for exposure to drought — land soil moisture anomaly?
- OECD ranks 95th out of 193 countries with data for 2024.
- Is exposure to drought — land soil moisture anomaly rising or falling in OECD?
- Over the last ten years it is down 42.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is volatile.
- Where does this OECD data come from?
- The figures come from Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, published as part of Exposure to drought — Land soil moisture anomaly. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 44 observations, free to reuse under OECD Terms and Conditions (attribution required).
About this data
The dataset provides annual anomalies in land and cropland soil moisture content of the top soil layer 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 1981-2022 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 (ERA5). Contact: ENV.Stat@oecd.org Database documentation