Historical exposure to drought — Land soil moisture anomaly in Europe
Europe: Historical exposure to drought — Land soil moisture anomaly was -1.75 Percentage change in 2025. ◆ Volatile
Historical exposure to drought — Land soil moisture anomaly in Europe, 1950–2025
Source: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Measured in Percentage change.
Analysis
The most recent figure for historical exposure to drought — land soil moisture anomaly in Europe is -1.75 Percentage change, measured in 2025.
That represents a change of up 19.2% on the previous year and down 50.1% over ten years.
Over the whole period, historical exposure to drought — land soil moisture anomaly in Europe peaked at 2.12 Percentage change in 1978 and was at its lowest, -2.52 Percentage change, in 2020.
Europe ranks 17th of 72 groups 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 Europe, year by year
| Year | Percentage change | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1950 | -2.41 Percentage change | — |
| 1951 | -2.44 Percentage change | +1.5% |
| 1952 | -1.43 Percentage change | -41.6% |
| 1953 | -2.1 Percentage change | +46.8% |
| 1954 | -0.7101 Percentage change | -66.1% |
| 1955 | -2.04 Percentage change | +187.3% |
| 1956 | -0.8101 Percentage change | -60.3% |
| 1957 | -1.56 Percentage change | +92.3% |
| 1958 | -0.4549 Percentage change | -70.8% |
| 1959 | -1.87 Percentage change | +310.5% |
| 1960 | -0.2123 Percentage change | -88.6% |
| 1961 | -0.3308 Percentage change | +55.9% |
| 1962 | -0.4285 Percentage change | +29.5% |
| 1963 | -0.3024 Percentage change | -29.4% |
| 1964 | -0.0445 Percentage change | -85.3% |
| 1965 | 0.9426 Percentage change | -2216.0% |
| 1966 | 0.7194 Percentage change | -23.7% |
| 1967 | -0.0972 Percentage change | -113.5% |
| 1968 | 1.15 Percentage change | -1285.1% |
| 1969 | 0.2568 Percentage change | -77.7% |
| 1970 | 1.29 Percentage change | +402.6% |
| 1971 | 1.96 Percentage change | +51.8% |
| 1972 | 1.57 Percentage change | -19.8% |
| 1973 | 0.5445 Percentage change | -65.4% |
| 1974 | 1.15 Percentage change | +110.7% |
| 1975 | -0.4325 Percentage change | -137.7% |
| 1976 | -0.2032 Percentage change | -53.0% |
| 1977 | 0.8749 Percentage change | -530.5% |
| 1978 | 2.12 Percentage change | +141.9% |
| 1979 | 0.3277 Percentage change | -84.5% |
| 1980 | 1.06 Percentage change | +223.2% |
| 1981 | -0.6771 Percentage change | -163.9% |
| 1982 | -0.2345 Percentage change | -65.4% |
| 1983 | 0.2133 Percentage change | -191.0% |
| 1984 | 0.7643 Percentage change | +258.4% |
| 1985 | 1.08 Percentage change | +41.8% |
| 1986 | 0.1089 Percentage change | -89.9% |
| 1987 | 0.7454 Percentage change | +584.2% |
| 1988 | 0.4046 Percentage change | -45.7% |
| 1989 | 0.3557 Percentage change | -12.1% |
| 1990 | 0.5863 Percentage change | +64.8% |
| 1991 | -0.6473 Percentage change | -210.4% |
| 1992 | -1.27 Percentage change | +96.1% |
| 1993 | -0.1891 Percentage change | -85.1% |
| 1994 | -0.4232 Percentage change | +123.8% |
| 1995 | -0.1413 Percentage change | -66.6% |
| 1996 | 0.4676 Percentage change | -430.9% |
| 1997 | 1.17 Percentage change | +151.2% |
| 1998 | 0.4368 Percentage change | -62.8% |
| 1999 | -0.3517 Percentage change | -180.5% |
| 2000 | -0.0416 Percentage change | -88.2% |
| 2001 | -0.187 Percentage change | +349.9% |
| 2002 | -0.4436 Percentage change | +137.2% |
| 2003 | -1.33 Percentage change | +200.4% |
| 2004 | 0.3993 Percentage change | -130.0% |
| 2005 | -0.719 Percentage change | -280.0% |
| 2006 | 0.2231 Percentage change | -131.0% |
| 2007 | 0.3028 Percentage change | +35.7% |
| 2008 | 0.3659 Percentage change | +20.8% |
| 2009 | -1.01 Percentage change | -376.5% |
| 2010 | 0.036 Percentage change | -103.6% |
| 2011 | -1.82 Percentage change | -5169.4% |
| 2012 | -2.14 Percentage change | +17.5% |
| 2013 | -0.5003 Percentage change | -76.7% |
| 2014 | -0.7835 Percentage change | +56.6% |
| 2015 | -1.16 Percentage change | +48.4% |
| 2016 | -1.33 Percentage change | +14.5% |
| 2017 | -0.9196 Percentage change | -30.9% |
| 2018 | -2.03 Percentage change | +120.4% |
| 2019 | -2.4 Percentage change | +18.2% |
| 2020 | -2.52 Percentage change | +5.3% |
| 2021 | -1.64 Percentage change | -35.1% |
| 2022 | -1.98 Percentage change | +20.6% |
| 2023 | -1.59 Percentage change | -19.5% |
| 2024 | -2.16 Percentage change | +35.6% |
| 2025 | -1.75 Percentage change | -19.2% |
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Historical exposure to drought — Land soil moisture anomaly in Europe 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | -5169.4% | 0.036 Percentage change | -1.82 Percentage change |
| 1965 | +2216.0% | -0.0445 Percentage change | 0.9426 Percentage change |
| 1968 | +1285.1% | -0.0972 Percentage change | 1.15 Percentage change |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1950s | -1.58 Percentage change | -2.44 Percentage change | -0.4549 Percentage change | 10 |
| 1960s | 0.1655 Percentage change | -0.4285 Percentage change | 1.15 Percentage change | 10 |
| 1970s | 0.9197 Percentage change | -0.4325 Percentage change | 2.12 Percentage change | 10 |
| 1980s | 0.3824 Percentage change | -0.6771 Percentage change | 1.08 Percentage change | 10 |
| 1990s | -0.0356 Percentage change | -1.27 Percentage change | 1.17 Percentage change | 10 |
| 2000s | -0.2444 Percentage change | -1.33 Percentage change | 0.3993 Percentage change | 10 |
| 2010s | -1.31 Percentage change | -2.4 Percentage change | 0.036 Percentage change | 10 |
| 2020s | -1.94 Percentage change | -2.52 Percentage change | -1.59 Percentage change | 6 |
Countries ranked near Europe
- 14 Svalbard and Jan Mayen 4.16 Percentage change compare
- 15 Holy See 4.1 Percentage change compare
- 16 Finland 3.9 Percentage change compare
- 16 Croatia -1.13 Percentage change compare
- 17 Iceland 3.89 Percentage change compare
- 18 Nicaragua 3.64 Percentage change compare
- 19 Faroe Islands 3.37 Percentage change compare
- 20 Greece 3.36 Percentage change compare
More environment data for Europe
- Historical exposure to drought — Cropland soil moisture anomaly -3.33 Percentage change (2025)
- Standard Deviation, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Standard Deviation 0.435 °C (2025)
- Temperature change 2.71 °C (2025)
- Total fibre furnish — Production 101.18 million t (2024)
- Recovered paper — Production 57.94 million t (2024)
- Paper and paperboard — Production 94.14 million t (2024)
- Other paper and paperboard — Production 73.33 million t (2024)
- Nutrient nitrogen N (total) — Use per area of cropland 49.53 kg/ha (2024)
- Pesticides (total) — Export value 16.44 million 1000 USD (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is historical exposure to drought — land soil moisture anomaly in Europe?
- Historical exposure to drought — land soil moisture anomaly in Europe was -1.75 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 Europe?
- The highest recorded value was 2.12 Percentage change in 1978.
- What is the lowest historical exposure to drought — land soil moisture anomaly recorded in Europe?
- The lowest recorded value was -2.52 Percentage change in 2020.
- How does Europe rank for historical exposure to drought — land soil moisture anomaly?
- Europe ranks 17th out of 72 groups with data for 2025.
- Is historical exposure to drought — land soil moisture anomaly rising or falling in Europe?
- Over the last ten years it is down 50.1%. The long-run trend across the full record is volatile.
- Where does this Europe 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