Historical exposure to drought — Cropland soil moisture anomaly in Western Asia / Near and Middle East countries
Western Asia / Near and Middle East countries: Historical exposure to drought — Cropland soil moisture anomaly was -9.17 Percentage change in 2025. ◆ Volatile
Historical exposure to drought — Cropland soil moisture anomaly in Western Asia / Near and Middle East countries, 1950–2025
Source: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Measured in Percentage change.
Analysis
The most recent figure for historical exposure to drought — cropland soil moisture anomaly in Western Asia / Near and Middle East countries is -9.17 Percentage change, measured in 2025.
Compared with earlier readings it is down 96.4% on the previous year and down 260.4% over ten years.
Over the whole period, historical exposure to drought — cropland soil moisture anomaly in Western Asia / Near and Middle East countries peaked at 14.62 Percentage change in 1972 and was at its lowest, -9.23 Percentage change, in 1962.
Western Asia / Near and Middle East countries ranks 2674th of 2960 regions on this measure, in the bottom quarter.
The series is highly variable year to year, so single readings are best treated with caution.
Historical exposure to drought — Cropland soil moisture anomaly in Western Asia / Near and Middle East countries, year by year
| Year | Percentage change | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1950 | -6.03 Percentage change | — |
| 1951 | -2.76 Percentage change | -54.2% |
| 1952 | -3.58 Percentage change | +29.4% |
| 1953 | -1.93 Percentage change | -46.1% |
| 1954 | -1.72 Percentage change | -10.7% |
| 1955 | -3.96 Percentage change | +130.0% |
| 1956 | -6.62 Percentage change | +66.9% |
| 1957 | -1.17 Percentage change | -82.3% |
| 1958 | -6.32 Percentage change | +439.6% |
| 1959 | -3.17 Percentage change | -49.8% |
| 1960 | -4.53 Percentage change | +42.9% |
| 1961 | -6.08 Percentage change | +34.2% |
| 1962 | -9.23 Percentage change | +51.7% |
| 1963 | 8.15 Percentage change | -188.4% |
| 1964 | -3.4 Percentage change | -141.7% |
| 1965 | 0.277 Percentage change | -108.1% |
| 1966 | -2.59 Percentage change | -1033.6% |
| 1967 | 3.17 Percentage change | -222.7% |
| 1968 | 5.31 Percentage change | +67.1% |
| 1969 | 4.09 Percentage change | -22.9% |
| 1970 | -0.246 Percentage change | -106.0% |
| 1971 | 3.81 Percentage change | -1647.0% |
| 1972 | 14.62 Percentage change | +284.2% |
| 1973 | -3.05 Percentage change | -120.8% |
| 1974 | 0.3662 Percentage change | -112.0% |
| 1975 | 0.6943 Percentage change | +89.6% |
| 1976 | 4.85 Percentage change | +598.7% |
| 1977 | -0.8644 Percentage change | -117.8% |
| 1978 | 2.18 Percentage change | -352.3% |
| 1979 | 1.23 Percentage change | -43.7% |
| 1980 | 1.9 Percentage change | +54.6% |
| 1981 | 1.97 Percentage change | +3.8% |
| 1982 | 4.69 Percentage change | +137.9% |
| 1983 | 2.34 Percentage change | -50.1% |
| 1984 | -1.67 Percentage change | -171.3% |
| 1985 | 0.8969 Percentage change | -153.8% |
| 1986 | -0.3396 Percentage change | -137.9% |
| 1987 | 0.3557 Percentage change | -204.7% |
| 1988 | 9.65 Percentage change | +2613.1% |
| 1989 | -3.99 Percentage change | -141.4% |
| 1990 | -2.19 Percentage change | -45.1% |
| 1991 | -0.058 Percentage change | -97.4% |
| 1992 | 1.13 Percentage change | -2054.6% |
| 1993 | -0.3587 Percentage change | -131.6% |
| 1994 | 1.77 Percentage change | -594.6% |
| 1995 | 1.6 Percentage change | -9.9% |
| 1996 | 2.85 Percentage change | +78.0% |
| 1997 | 4.99 Percentage change | +75.2% |
| 1998 | 2.29 Percentage change | -54.0% |
| 1999 | -4.65 Percentage change | -302.6% |
| 2000 | -2.67 Percentage change | -42.5% |
| 2001 | -6.84 Percentage change | +156.0% |
| 2002 | -1.72 Percentage change | -74.9% |
| 2003 | 1.43 Percentage change | -183.0% |
| 2004 | -3.32 Percentage change | -332.5% |
| 2005 | 0.0751 Percentage change | -102.3% |
| 2006 | 0.2296 Percentage change | +205.5% |
| 2007 | -5.23 Percentage change | -2378.5% |
| 2008 | -3.22 Percentage change | -38.5% |
| 2009 | 0.3443 Percentage change | -110.7% |
| 2010 | -0.3618 Percentage change | -205.1% |
| 2011 | 1.29 Percentage change | -456.2% |
| 2012 | -2.7 Percentage change | -309.9% |
| 2013 | -5.67 Percentage change | +109.8% |
| 2014 | 1.47 Percentage change | -126.0% |
| 2015 | 5.72 Percentage change | +287.7% |
| 2016 | -1.48 Percentage change | -125.9% |
| 2017 | -4.68 Percentage change | +215.8% |
| 2018 | 2.23 Percentage change | -147.6% |
| 2019 | 0.2108 Percentage change | -90.5% |
| 2020 | -3.69 Percentage change | -1852.5% |
| 2021 | -8.19 Percentage change | +121.7% |
| 2022 | -7.39 Percentage change | -9.7% |
| 2023 | -1.5 Percentage change | -79.8% |
| 2024 | -4.67 Percentage change | +212.2% |
| 2025 | -9.17 Percentage change | +96.4% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1950s | -3.73 Percentage change | -6.62 Percentage change | -1.17 Percentage change | 10 |
| 1960s | -0.4831 Percentage change | -9.23 Percentage change | 8.15 Percentage change | 10 |
| 1970s | 2.36 Percentage change | -3.05 Percentage change | 14.62 Percentage change | 10 |
| 1980s | 1.58 Percentage change | -3.99 Percentage change | 9.65 Percentage change | 10 |
| 1990s | 0.7383 Percentage change | -4.65 Percentage change | 4.99 Percentage change | 10 |
| 2000s | -2.09 Percentage change | -6.84 Percentage change | 1.43 Percentage change | 10 |
| 2010s | -0.3981 Percentage change | -5.67 Percentage change | 5.72 Percentage change | 10 |
| 2020s | -5.77 Percentage change | -9.17 Percentage change | -1.5 Percentage change | 6 |
More environment data for Western Asia / Near and Middle East countries
- Historical exposure to drought — Land soil moisture anomaly -15.41 Percentage change (2025)
- Exposure to drought — Cropland soil moisture anomaly -4.56 Percentage change (2024)
- Exposure to drought — Land soil moisture anomaly -4.15 Percentage change (2024)
- River flooding exposure — Cropland share exposed to river flooding 6.03 Percentage of agricultural land area (2022)
- Land cover and land cover change — Grassland 91,325 Square kilometres (2022)
- Land cover and land cover change — Loss of cropland 31,496 Square kilometres (2022)
- Land cover and land cover change — Gain of artificial surfaces 16,366 Square kilometres (2022)
All data for Western Asia / Near and Middle East countries →
Frequently asked questions
- What is historical exposure to drought — cropland soil moisture anomaly in Western Asia / Near and Middle East countries?
- Historical exposure to drought — cropland soil moisture anomaly in Western Asia / Near and Middle East countries was -9.17 Percentage change in 2025, according to Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
- What is the highest historical exposure to drought — cropland soil moisture anomaly recorded in Western Asia / Near and Middle East countries?
- The highest recorded value was 14.62 Percentage change in 1972.
- What is the lowest historical exposure to drought — cropland soil moisture anomaly recorded in Western Asia / Near and Middle East countries?
- The lowest recorded value was -9.23 Percentage change in 1962.
- How does Western Asia / Near and Middle East countries rank for historical exposure to drought — cropland soil moisture anomaly?
- Western Asia / Near and Middle East countries ranks 2674th out of 2960 regions with data for 2025.
- Is historical exposure to drought — cropland soil moisture anomaly rising or falling in Western Asia / Near and Middle East countries?
- Over the last ten years it is down 260.4%. The long-run trend across the full record is volatile.
- Where does this Western Asia / Near and Middle East countries data come from?
- The figures come from Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, published as part of Historical exposure to drought — Cropland soil moisture anomaly. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
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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