Historical exposure to drought — Land soil moisture anomaly in Belfast
Belfast: Historical exposure to drought — Land soil moisture anomaly was 2.17 Percentage change in 2025. ◆ Volatile
Historical exposure to drought — Land soil moisture anomaly in Belfast, 1950–2025
Source: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Measured in Percentage change.
Analysis
In 2025, historical exposure to drought — land soil moisture anomaly in Belfast stood at 2.17 Percentage change.
The figure is up 29.5% on the previous year and up 12.2% over ten years.
Over the whole period, historical exposure to drought — land soil moisture anomaly in Belfast peaked at 5.26 Percentage change in 2002 and was at its lowest, -22.2 Percentage change, in 1955.
That places Belfast 492nd out of 3127 regions with data for 2025, putting it in the top quarter.
The series is highly variable year to year, so single readings are best treated with caution.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1950s | -13.4 Percentage change | -22.2 Percentage change | -7.39 Percentage change | 10 |
| 1960s | -12.71 Percentage change | -17.46 Percentage change | -9.6 Percentage change | 10 |
| 1970s | -12.62 Percentage change | -17.51 Percentage change | -7.13 Percentage change | 10 |
| 1980s | -2.06 Percentage change | -10.43 Percentage change | 2.69 Percentage change | 10 |
| 1990s | -0.8413 Percentage change | -3.88 Percentage change | 2.86 Percentage change | 10 |
| 2000s | 1.73 Percentage change | -0.5777 Percentage change | 5.26 Percentage change | 10 |
| 2010s | 0.3131 Percentage change | -7.12 Percentage change | 3.27 Percentage change | 10 |
| 2020s | 0.9885 Percentage change | -2.98 Percentage change | 3.6 Percentage change | 6 |
More environment data for Belfast
- Drought - Cities and FUAs — Land soil moisture anomaly 2.2 Percentage change (2025)
- Greenhouse gas emissions - Cities and FUAs — GHG emissions from waste 0.03 Tonnes of CO2-equivalent (2024)
- River flooding exposure — Cropland share exposed to river flooding 0 Percentage of agricultural land area (2022)
- Land surface temperature - Cities and FUAs — Daytime summer land 19.7 Degrees celsius (2024)
- Land surface temperature - Cities and FUAs — Daytime winter land 4.02 Degrees celsius (2024)
- Land surface temperature - Cities and FUAs — Daytime yearly land 12.35 Degrees celsius (2024)
- Land surface temperature - Cities and FUAs — Nighttime summer land 7.36 Degrees celsius (2024)
- Land surface temperature - Cities and FUAs — Nighttime winter land 0.5103 Degrees celsius (2024)
- Land surface temperature - Cities and FUAs — Nighttime yearly land 4.73 Degrees celsius (2024)
- Air pollution - Cities and FUAs — Population exposure to nitrogen 38.94 Microgrammes per cubic metre (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is historical exposure to drought — land soil moisture anomaly in Belfast?
- Historical exposure to drought — land soil moisture anomaly in Belfast was 2.17 Percentage change in 2025, according to Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
- What is the highest historical exposure to drought — land soil moisture anomaly recorded in Belfast?
- The highest recorded value was 5.26 Percentage change in 2002.
- What is the lowest historical exposure to drought — land soil moisture anomaly recorded in Belfast?
- The lowest recorded value was -22.2 Percentage change in 1955.
- How does Belfast rank for historical exposure to drought — land soil moisture anomaly?
- Belfast ranks 492nd out of 3127 regions with data for 2025.
- Is historical exposure to drought — land soil moisture anomaly rising or falling in Belfast?
- Over the last ten years it is up 12.2%. The long-run trend across the full record is volatile.
- Where does this Belfast data come from?
- The figures come from Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, published as part of Historical exposure to drought — Land soil moisture anomaly. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
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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