Historical exposure to drought — Land soil moisture anomaly in Costa Rica
Costa Rica: Historical exposure to drought — Land soil moisture anomaly was 2.9 Percentage change in 2025. ◆ Volatile
Historical exposure to drought — Land soil moisture anomaly in Costa Rica, 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 Costa Rica stood at 2.9 Percentage change.
Compared with earlier readings it is up 473.4% on the previous year and up 808.3% over ten years.
Over the whole period, historical exposure to drought — land soil moisture anomaly in Costa Rica peaked at 4.87 Percentage change in 1970 and was at its lowest, -5.12 Percentage change, in 2019.
Costa Rica ranks 26th of 191 countries on this measure, in the top quarter.
The series is highly variable year to year, so single readings are best treated with caution.
Historical exposure to drought — Land soil moisture anomaly in Costa Rica, year by year
| Year | Percentage change | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1950 | 3.99 Percentage change | — |
| 1951 | 3.47 Percentage change | -13.0% |
| 1952 | 0.9446 Percentage change | -72.8% |
| 1953 | 1.05 Percentage change | +11.6% |
| 1954 | 1.73 Percentage change | +64.0% |
| 1955 | 3.13 Percentage change | +81.0% |
| 1956 | 2.06 Percentage change | -34.1% |
| 1957 | 0.1693 Percentage change | -91.8% |
| 1958 | 0.433 Percentage change | +155.8% |
| 1959 | -3.9 Percentage change | -1000.2% |
| 1960 | 1.57 Percentage change | -140.2% |
| 1961 | -3.14 Percentage change | -300.3% |
| 1962 | 1 Percentage change | -131.9% |
| 1963 | 1.88 Percentage change | +87.6% |
| 1964 | -0.6311 Percentage change | -133.6% |
| 1965 | -1.02 Percentage change | +62.2% |
| 1966 | 3.16 Percentage change | -408.9% |
| 1967 | 1.39 Percentage change | -56.0% |
| 1968 | 1.95 Percentage change | +40.3% |
| 1969 | 1.25 Percentage change | -35.8% |
| 1970 | 4.87 Percentage change | +287.8% |
| 1971 | 3.46 Percentage change | -29.0% |
| 1972 | 1.32 Percentage change | -61.9% |
| 1973 | 1.8 Percentage change | +36.7% |
| 1974 | 3.29 Percentage change | +82.7% |
| 1975 | -1.46 Percentage change | -144.4% |
| 1976 | 1.59 Percentage change | -208.8% |
| 1977 | -0.6918 Percentage change | -143.5% |
| 1978 | 4.08 Percentage change | -690.0% |
| 1979 | 0.0069 Percentage change | -99.8% |
| 1980 | 1.64 Percentage change | +23516.3% |
| 1981 | 4.54 Percentage change | +177.1% |
| 1982 | -2.21 Percentage change | -148.8% |
| 1983 | -1.54 Percentage change | -30.3% |
| 1984 | 1.73 Percentage change | -212.4% |
| 1985 | -1.19 Percentage change | -168.7% |
| 1986 | -1.14 Percentage change | -4.5% |
| 1987 | -2.15 Percentage change | +89.4% |
| 1988 | -0.2428 Percentage change | -88.7% |
| 1989 | -1.84 Percentage change | +659.4% |
| 1990 | -1.63 Percentage change | -11.5% |
| 1991 | -0.5351 Percentage change | -67.2% |
| 1992 | -2.8 Percentage change | +424.1% |
| 1993 | 0.8278 Percentage change | -129.5% |
| 1994 | -2.22 Percentage change | -367.8% |
| 1995 | 0.7501 Percentage change | -133.8% |
| 1996 | 3.11 Percentage change | +314.9% |
| 1997 | -0.9243 Percentage change | -129.7% |
| 1998 | -2.05 Percentage change | +121.3% |
| 1999 | 2.17 Percentage change | -206.3% |
| 2000 | -0.3381 Percentage change | -115.5% |
| 2001 | -1.44 Percentage change | +325.8% |
| 2002 | -0.6365 Percentage change | -55.8% |
| 2003 | -0.2387 Percentage change | -62.5% |
| 2004 | 2.31 Percentage change | -1068.6% |
| 2005 | -0.3876 Percentage change | -116.8% |
| 2006 | 1.51 Percentage change | -490.4% |
| 2007 | 0.9362 Percentage change | -38.1% |
| 2008 | -0.3528 Percentage change | -137.7% |
| 2009 | 1.76 Percentage change | -598.6% |
| 2010 | 4.21 Percentage change | +139.6% |
| 2011 | 3.17 Percentage change | -24.9% |
| 2012 | 0.0056 Percentage change | -99.8% |
| 2013 | -0.1023 Percentage change | -1917.8% |
| 2014 | -2.45 Percentage change | +2299.1% |
| 2015 | 0.3198 Percentage change | -113.0% |
| 2016 | 1.32 Percentage change | +311.8% |
| 2017 | 1.26 Percentage change | -4.1% |
| 2018 | 1.62 Percentage change | +28.3% |
| 2019 | -5.12 Percentage change | -416.0% |
| 2020 | -0.2126 Percentage change | -95.8% |
| 2021 | 1.45 Percentage change | -779.8% |
| 2022 | -0.0973 Percentage change | -106.7% |
| 2023 | -2.56 Percentage change | +2534.5% |
| 2024 | -0.7777 Percentage change | -69.7% |
| 2025 | 2.9 Percentage change | -473.4% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1950s | 1.31 Percentage change | -3.9 Percentage change | 3.99 Percentage change | 10 |
| 1960s | 0.7417 Percentage change | -3.14 Percentage change | 3.16 Percentage change | 10 |
| 1970s | 1.83 Percentage change | -1.46 Percentage change | 4.87 Percentage change | 10 |
| 1980s | -0.2412 Percentage change | -2.21 Percentage change | 4.54 Percentage change | 10 |
| 1990s | -0.3292 Percentage change | -2.8 Percentage change | 3.11 Percentage change | 10 |
| 2000s | 0.3127 Percentage change | -1.44 Percentage change | 2.31 Percentage change | 10 |
| 2010s | 0.4228 Percentage change | -5.12 Percentage change | 4.21 Percentage change | 10 |
| 2020s | 0.1162 Percentage change | -2.56 Percentage change | 2.9 Percentage change | 6 |
Countries ranked near Costa Rica
More environment data for Costa Rica
- Historical exposure to drought — Cropland soil moisture anomaly 2.71 Percentage change (2025)
- Standard Deviation, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Standard Deviation 0.257 °C (2025)
- Temperature change 1.61 °C (2025)
- Graphic papers — Import quantity, annual growth rate -3.51 % change on previous year (2024)
- Graphic papers — Import quantity, per unit of GDP 0 t per US$ of GDP (2024)
- Graphic papers — Import quantity, per capita 0.006 t per person (2024)
- Graphic papers — Import value, annual growth rate -8.01 % change on previous year (2024)
- Graphic papers — Import value, per unit of GDP 0 1000 USD per US$ of GDP (2024)
- Graphic papers — Import value, per capita 0.0079 1000 USD per person (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is historical exposure to drought — land soil moisture anomaly in Costa Rica?
- Historical exposure to drought — land soil moisture anomaly in Costa Rica was 2.9 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 Costa Rica?
- The highest recorded value was 4.87 Percentage change in 1970.
- What is the lowest historical exposure to drought — land soil moisture anomaly recorded in Costa Rica?
- The lowest recorded value was -5.12 Percentage change in 2019.
- How does Costa Rica rank for historical exposure to drought — land soil moisture anomaly?
- Costa Rica ranks 26th out of 191 countries with data for 2025.
- Is historical exposure to drought — land soil moisture anomaly rising or falling in Costa Rica?
- Over the last ten years it is up 808.3%. The long-run trend across the full record is volatile.
- Where does this Costa Rica 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.
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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