Historical exposure to drought — Land soil moisture anomaly in G20
G20: Historical exposure to drought — Land soil moisture anomaly was -2.49 Percentage change in 2025. ◆ Volatile
Historical exposure to drought — Land soil moisture anomaly in G20, 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 G20 stood at -2.49 Percentage change.
That represents a change of down 0.9% on the previous year and down 61.2% over ten years.
Over the whole period, historical exposure to drought — land soil moisture anomaly in G20 peaked at 2.14 Percentage change in 1973 and was at its lowest, -3.58 Percentage change, in 2023.
That places G20 26th out of 72 regions with data for 2025, putting it in the middle of the range.
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 | -1.29 Percentage change | -2.48 Percentage change | -0.4196 Percentage change | 10 |
| 1960s | -1.45 Percentage change | -2.53 Percentage change | -0.0677 Percentage change | 10 |
| 1970s | 0.5678 Percentage change | -0.7295 Percentage change | 2.14 Percentage change | 10 |
| 1980s | 0.7534 Percentage change | -0.1628 Percentage change | 1.76 Percentage change | 10 |
| 1990s | 0.1863 Percentage change | -0.8898 Percentage change | 0.9299 Percentage change | 10 |
| 2000s | -0.9303 Percentage change | -2.02 Percentage change | 0.6024 Percentage change | 10 |
| 2010s | -1.58 Percentage change | -2.78 Percentage change | -0.0084 Percentage change | 10 |
| 2020s | -2.53 Percentage change | -3.58 Percentage change | -1.84 Percentage change | 6 |
Countries ranked near G20
- 23 South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands 3.08 Percentage change compare
- 24 Dominica 3.05 Percentage change compare
- 25 Zimbabwe 2.93 Percentage change compare
- 26 Costa Rica 2.9 Percentage change compare
- 27 Isle of Man 2.85 Percentage change compare
- 28 Nepal 2.73 Percentage change compare
- 29 Ireland 2.51 Percentage change compare
More environment data for G20
- Historical exposure to drought — Cropland soil moisture anomaly -1.74 Percentage change (2025)
- Exposure to drought — Cropland soil moisture anomaly -3.73 Percentage change (2024)
- Exposure to drought — Land soil moisture anomaly -2.79 Percentage change (2024)
- River flooding exposure — Cropland share exposed to river flooding 5.94 Percentage of agricultural land area (2022)
- Land cover and land cover change — Grassland 8.39 million Square kilometres (2022)
- Land cover and land cover change — Loss of cropland 645,026 Square kilometres (2022)
- Land cover and land cover change — Gain of artificial surfaces 297,832 Square kilometres (2022)
Frequently asked questions
- What is historical exposure to drought — land soil moisture anomaly in G20?
- Historical exposure to drought — land soil moisture anomaly in G20 was -2.49 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 G20?
- The highest recorded value was 2.14 Percentage change in 1973.
- What is the lowest historical exposure to drought — land soil moisture anomaly recorded in G20?
- The lowest recorded value was -3.58 Percentage change in 2023.
- How does G20 rank for historical exposure to drought — land soil moisture anomaly?
- G20 ranks 26th out of 72 regions with data for 2025.
- Is historical exposure to drought — land soil moisture anomaly rising or falling in G20?
- Over the last ten years it is down 61.2%. The long-run trend across the full record is volatile.
- Where does this G20 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