Historical exposure to drought — Land soil moisture anomaly in Northern America
Northern America: Historical exposure to drought — Land soil moisture anomaly was -2.23 Percentage change in 2025. ◆ Volatile
Historical exposure to drought — Land soil moisture anomaly in Northern America, 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 Northern America is -2.23 Percentage change, measured in 2025.
That represents a change of down 230.9% on the previous year and down 121.4% over ten years.
Over the whole period, historical exposure to drought — land soil moisture anomaly in Northern America peaked at 3.04 Percentage change in 1982 and was at its lowest, -3.89 Percentage change, in 1952.
That places Northern America 24th out of 72 groups 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.
Historical exposure to drought — Land soil moisture anomaly in Northern America, year by year
| Year | Percentage change | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1950 | -2.16 Percentage change | — |
| 1951 | -1.14 Percentage change | -47.2% |
| 1952 | -3.89 Percentage change | +241.3% |
| 1953 | -2.5 Percentage change | -35.9% |
| 1954 | -2.66 Percentage change | +6.6% |
| 1955 | -1.96 Percentage change | -26.3% |
| 1956 | -2.63 Percentage change | +33.9% |
| 1957 | 0.5619 Percentage change | -121.4% |
| 1958 | 0.001 Percentage change | -99.8% |
| 1959 | 0.1601 Percentage change | +15957.9% |
| 1960 | -0.5836 Percentage change | -464.6% |
| 1961 | -1.46 Percentage change | +149.7% |
| 1962 | -0.6222 Percentage change | -57.3% |
| 1963 | -1.78 Percentage change | +185.9% |
| 1964 | -1.46 Percentage change | -17.8% |
| 1965 | -1.52 Percentage change | +4.1% |
| 1966 | -2.88 Percentage change | +89.3% |
| 1967 | -1.92 Percentage change | -33.4% |
| 1968 | -1.69 Percentage change | -11.8% |
| 1969 | -2.11 Percentage change | +25.0% |
| 1970 | -0.8564 Percentage change | -59.5% |
| 1971 | -1.11 Percentage change | +30.1% |
| 1972 | -0.5837 Percentage change | -47.6% |
| 1973 | 1.11 Percentage change | -290.4% |
| 1974 | -0.9325 Percentage change | -183.9% |
| 1975 | -0.2446 Percentage change | -73.8% |
| 1976 | -1.48 Percentage change | +504.8% |
| 1977 | -1.89 Percentage change | +27.8% |
| 1978 | -0.3947 Percentage change | -79.1% |
| 1979 | 0.295 Percentage change | -174.7% |
| 1980 | -0.1086 Percentage change | -136.8% |
| 1981 | 0.2063 Percentage change | -290.0% |
| 1982 | 3.04 Percentage change | +1374.4% |
| 1983 | 1.99 Percentage change | -34.6% |
| 1984 | 1.47 Percentage change | -26.2% |
| 1985 | 2.36 Percentage change | +61.0% |
| 1986 | 1.78 Percentage change | -24.7% |
| 1987 | 0.9035 Percentage change | -49.2% |
| 1988 | -1.26 Percentage change | -239.5% |
| 1989 | -1.9 Percentage change | +50.5% |
| 1990 | -1.94 Percentage change | +2.1% |
| 1991 | -0.4706 Percentage change | -75.7% |
| 1992 | 0.4582 Percentage change | -197.4% |
| 1993 | 1.47 Percentage change | +221.1% |
| 1994 | -1.04 Percentage change | -170.5% |
| 1995 | 0.9579 Percentage change | -192.3% |
| 1996 | 1.41 Percentage change | +47.7% |
| 1997 | 1.92 Percentage change | +35.8% |
| 1998 | 0.0054 Percentage change | -99.7% |
| 1999 | -1.01 Percentage change | -18614.4% |
| 2000 | -0.8995 Percentage change | -10.8% |
| 2001 | -1.37 Percentage change | +52.2% |
| 2002 | -1.76 Percentage change | +28.3% |
| 2003 | -0.4722 Percentage change | -73.1% |
| 2004 | 1.21 Percentage change | -356.8% |
| 2005 | 0.6199 Percentage change | -48.9% |
| 2006 | -1.65 Percentage change | -366.1% |
| 2007 | -2.45 Percentage change | +48.7% |
| 2008 | -2.43 Percentage change | -1.1% |
| 2009 | -0.4513 Percentage change | -81.4% |
| 2010 | -0.723 Percentage change | +60.2% |
| 2011 | -2.1 Percentage change | +191.0% |
| 2012 | -3.74 Percentage change | +77.9% |
| 2013 | -0.9062 Percentage change | -75.8% |
| 2014 | -0.9929 Percentage change | +9.6% |
| 2015 | -1.01 Percentage change | +1.5% |
| 2016 | 0.3152 Percentage change | -131.3% |
| 2017 | -0.4256 Percentage change | -235.0% |
| 2018 | -0.3282 Percentage change | -22.9% |
| 2019 | 0.8575 Percentage change | -361.3% |
| 2020 | 0.1293 Percentage change | -84.9% |
| 2021 | -0.9033 Percentage change | -798.6% |
| 2022 | -2.49 Percentage change | +175.3% |
| 2023 | -3.28 Percentage change | +31.8% |
| 2024 | -0.6743 Percentage change | -79.4% |
| 2025 | -2.23 Percentage change | +230.9% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1950s | -1.62 Percentage change | -3.89 Percentage change | 0.5619 Percentage change | 10 |
| 1960s | -1.6 Percentage change | -2.88 Percentage change | -0.5836 Percentage change | 10 |
| 1970s | -0.609 Percentage change | -1.89 Percentage change | 1.11 Percentage change | 10 |
| 1980s | 0.8484 Percentage change | -1.9 Percentage change | 3.04 Percentage change | 10 |
| 1990s | 0.1774 Percentage change | -1.94 Percentage change | 1.92 Percentage change | 10 |
| 2000s | -0.9643 Percentage change | -2.45 Percentage change | 1.21 Percentage change | 10 |
| 2010s | -0.9056 Percentage change | -3.74 Percentage change | 0.8575 Percentage change | 10 |
| 2020s | -1.57 Percentage change | -3.28 Percentage change | 0.1293 Percentage change | 6 |
Countries ranked near Northern America
- 21 North Korea 3.16 Percentage change compare
- 22 Martinique 3.12 Percentage change compare
- 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
More environment data for Northern America
- Historical exposure to drought — Cropland soil moisture anomaly -3.25 Percentage change (2025)
- Standard Deviation, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Standard Deviation 0.466 °C (2025)
- Temperature change 2.49 °C (2025)
- Recovered paper — Production 43.74 million t (2024)
- Total fibre furnish — Production 92.54 million t (2024)
- Nutrient nitrogen N (total) — Agricultural Use 14.64 million t (2024)
- Nutrient nitrogen N (total) — Use per capita 37.99 kg/cap (2024)
- Nutrient nitrogen N (total) — Use per area of cropland 75.85 kg/ha (2024)
- Nutrient potash K2O (total) — Use per capita 13.25 kg/cap (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is historical exposure to drought — land soil moisture anomaly in Northern America?
- Historical exposure to drought — land soil moisture anomaly in Northern America was -2.23 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 Northern America?
- The highest recorded value was 3.04 Percentage change in 1982.
- What is the lowest historical exposure to drought — land soil moisture anomaly recorded in Northern America?
- The lowest recorded value was -3.89 Percentage change in 1952.
- How does Northern America rank for historical exposure to drought — land soil moisture anomaly?
- Northern America ranks 24th out of 72 groups with data for 2025.
- Is historical exposure to drought — land soil moisture anomaly rising or falling in Northern America?
- Over the last ten years it is down 121.4%. The long-run trend across the full record is volatile.
- Where does this Northern America 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