Historical exposure to drought — Land soil moisture anomaly in OECD America
OECD America: Historical exposure to drought — Land soil moisture anomaly was -2.61 Percentage change in 2025. ◆ Volatile
Historical exposure to drought — Land soil moisture anomaly in OECD America, 1950–2025
Source: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Measured in Percentage change.
Analysis
OECD America recorded -2.61 Percentage change for historical exposure to drought — land soil moisture anomaly in 2025.
That represents a change of down 59.2% on the previous year and down 322.1% over ten years.
Over the whole period, historical exposure to drought — land soil moisture anomaly in OECD America peaked at 2.88 Percentage change in 1982 and was at its lowest, -4.43 Percentage change, in 2023.
That places OECD America 1652nd out of 3112 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.
Historical exposure to drought — Land soil moisture anomaly in OECD America, year by year
| Year | Percentage change | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1950 | -2.55 Percentage change | — |
| 1951 | -1.48 Percentage change | -41.9% |
| 1952 | -4.26 Percentage change | +187.2% |
| 1953 | -2.96 Percentage change | -30.6% |
| 1954 | -2.95 Percentage change | -0.1% |
| 1955 | -2.33 Percentage change | -21.0% |
| 1956 | -2.98 Percentage change | +27.7% |
| 1957 | -0.1857 Percentage change | -93.8% |
| 1958 | 0.4706 Percentage change | -353.4% |
| 1959 | 0.285 Percentage change | -39.4% |
| 1960 | -1.25 Percentage change | -538.3% |
| 1961 | -1.86 Percentage change | +49.3% |
| 1962 | -1.67 Percentage change | -10.4% |
| 1963 | -2.28 Percentage change | +36.5% |
| 1964 | -2.11 Percentage change | -7.5% |
| 1965 | -2.21 Percentage change | +4.8% |
| 1966 | -3.14 Percentage change | +42.1% |
| 1967 | -2.28 Percentage change | -27.3% |
| 1968 | -1.77 Percentage change | -22.4% |
| 1969 | -2.21 Percentage change | +24.7% |
| 1970 | -1.16 Percentage change | -47.5% |
| 1971 | -1.4 Percentage change | +20.9% |
| 1972 | -0.5369 Percentage change | -61.8% |
| 1973 | 1.19 Percentage change | -321.5% |
| 1974 | -0.8708 Percentage change | -173.2% |
| 1975 | -0.2604 Percentage change | -70.1% |
| 1976 | -1.28 Percentage change | +390.0% |
| 1977 | -1.8 Percentage change | +41.2% |
| 1978 | 0.3513 Percentage change | -119.5% |
| 1979 | -0.025 Percentage change | -107.1% |
| 1980 | -0.1464 Percentage change | +484.6% |
| 1981 | 0.775 Percentage change | -629.3% |
| 1982 | 2.88 Percentage change | +271.3% |
| 1983 | 2.26 Percentage change | -21.3% |
| 1984 | 2.13 Percentage change | -5.7% |
| 1985 | 2.66 Percentage change | +24.4% |
| 1986 | 2.11 Percentage change | -20.7% |
| 1987 | 1.5 Percentage change | -28.7% |
| 1988 | -1.27 Percentage change | -184.4% |
| 1989 | -1.96 Percentage change | +54.8% |
| 1990 | -1.75 Percentage change | -10.8% |
| 1991 | -0.1833 Percentage change | -89.5% |
| 1992 | 1.16 Percentage change | -731.0% |
| 1993 | 1.83 Percentage change | +58.1% |
| 1994 | -1.43 Percentage change | -178.2% |
| 1995 | 0.6651 Percentage change | -146.5% |
| 1996 | 1.25 Percentage change | +88.1% |
| 1997 | 1.49 Percentage change | +19.0% |
| 1998 | -0.4071 Percentage change | -127.4% |
| 1999 | -1.35 Percentage change | +231.8% |
| 2000 | -1.35 Percentage change | -0.3% |
| 2001 | -1.49 Percentage change | +10.8% |
| 2002 | -1.98 Percentage change | +32.6% |
| 2003 | -0.7239 Percentage change | -63.4% |
| 2004 | 1.25 Percentage change | -272.5% |
| 2005 | 0.0097 Percentage change | -99.2% |
| 2006 | -1.84 Percentage change | -19127.1% |
| 2007 | -2.26 Percentage change | +22.8% |
| 2008 | -2.57 Percentage change | +13.6% |
| 2009 | -0.7617 Percentage change | -70.3% |
| 2010 | -0.6364 Percentage change | -16.5% |
| 2011 | -2.75 Percentage change | +332.9% |
| 2012 | -3.98 Percentage change | +44.4% |
| 2013 | -1.03 Percentage change | -74.0% |
| 2014 | -1.09 Percentage change | +5.6% |
| 2015 | -0.6171 Percentage change | -43.4% |
| 2016 | 0.0271 Percentage change | -104.4% |
| 2017 | -0.4803 Percentage change | -1870.7% |
| 2018 | -0.486 Percentage change | +1.2% |
| 2019 | 0.2369 Percentage change | -148.7% |
| 2020 | -0.4087 Percentage change | -272.5% |
| 2021 | -1.27 Percentage change | +211.9% |
| 2022 | -2.8 Percentage change | +119.6% |
| 2023 | -4.43 Percentage change | +58.3% |
| 2024 | -1.64 Percentage change | -63.1% |
| 2025 | -2.61 Percentage change | +59.2% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1950s | -1.89 Percentage change | -4.26 Percentage change | 0.4706 Percentage change | 10 |
| 1960s | -2.08 Percentage change | -3.14 Percentage change | -1.25 Percentage change | 10 |
| 1970s | -0.5797 Percentage change | -1.8 Percentage change | 1.19 Percentage change | 10 |
| 1980s | 1.09 Percentage change | -1.96 Percentage change | 2.88 Percentage change | 10 |
| 1990s | 0.1269 Percentage change | -1.75 Percentage change | 1.83 Percentage change | 10 |
| 2000s | -1.17 Percentage change | -2.57 Percentage change | 1.25 Percentage change | 10 |
| 2010s | -1.08 Percentage change | -3.98 Percentage change | 0.2369 Percentage change | 10 |
| 2020s | -2.19 Percentage change | -4.43 Percentage change | -0.4087 Percentage change | 6 |
More environment data for OECD America
- Historical exposure to drought — Cropland soil moisture anomaly -2.94 Percentage change (2025)
- Exposure to drought — Cropland soil moisture anomaly -3.7 Percentage change (2024)
- Exposure to drought — Land soil moisture anomaly -2.21 Percentage change (2024)
- Land use hidden — Total area 29.37 million Square kilometres (2023)
- Land use hidden — Cropland 2.25 million Square kilometres (2023)
- Land use hidden — Land area 21.78 million Square kilometres (2023)
- Land use hidden — Permanent meadows and pastures 4.05 million Square kilometres (2023)
- Land use hidden — Other areas 7.46 million Square kilometres (2023)
- Land use hidden — Forest 8.02 million Square kilometres (2023)
- River flooding exposure — Cropland share exposed to river flooding 5.24 Percentage of agricultural land area (2022)
Frequently asked questions
- What is historical exposure to drought — land soil moisture anomaly in OECD America?
- Historical exposure to drought — land soil moisture anomaly in OECD America was -2.61 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 OECD America?
- The highest recorded value was 2.88 Percentage change in 1982.
- What is the lowest historical exposure to drought — land soil moisture anomaly recorded in OECD America?
- The lowest recorded value was -4.43 Percentage change in 2023.
- How does OECD America rank for historical exposure to drought — land soil moisture anomaly?
- OECD America ranks 1652nd out of 3112 regions with data for 2025.
- Is historical exposure to drought — land soil moisture anomaly rising or falling in OECD America?
- Over the last ten years it is down 322.1%. The long-run trend across the full record is volatile.
- Where does this OECD 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.
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