Historical exposure to drought — Land soil moisture anomaly in United States
United States: Historical exposure to drought — Land soil moisture anomaly was -2.64 Percentage change in 2025. ◆ Volatile
Historical exposure to drought — Land soil moisture anomaly in United States, 1950–2025
Source: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Measured in Percentage change.
Analysis
United States recorded -2.64 Percentage change for historical exposure to drought — land soil moisture anomaly in 2025.
That represents a change of down 13.7% on the previous year and down 19.2% over ten years.
Over the whole period, historical exposure to drought — land soil moisture anomaly in United States peaked at 6.61 Percentage change in 1982 and was at its lowest, -7.62 Percentage change, in 2012.
United States ranks 84th of 191 countries on this measure, 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 United States, year by year
| Year | Percentage change | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1950 | -2.29 Percentage change | — |
| 1951 | -1.23 Percentage change | -46.4% |
| 1952 | -6.66 Percentage change | +442.8% |
| 1953 | -5.89 Percentage change | -11.5% |
| 1954 | -5.73 Percentage change | -2.8% |
| 1955 | -4.43 Percentage change | -22.7% |
| 1956 | -5.58 Percentage change | +26.0% |
| 1957 | 0.7779 Percentage change | -113.9% |
| 1958 | -0.157 Percentage change | -120.2% |
| 1959 | 0.8512 Percentage change | -642.3% |
| 1960 | -0.8007 Percentage change | -194.1% |
| 1961 | -1.35 Percentage change | +68.9% |
| 1962 | -0.7592 Percentage change | -43.9% |
| 1963 | -4.03 Percentage change | +431.0% |
| 1964 | -3.97 Percentage change | -1.4% |
| 1965 | -1.89 Percentage change | -52.4% |
| 1966 | -5 Percentage change | +164.0% |
| 1967 | -2.16 Percentage change | -56.8% |
| 1968 | -4.22 Percentage change | +95.8% |
| 1969 | -3.33 Percentage change | -21.0% |
| 1970 | -1.9 Percentage change | -43.0% |
| 1971 | -0.1477 Percentage change | -92.2% |
| 1972 | -0.2105 Percentage change | +42.5% |
| 1973 | 3.93 Percentage change | -1968.1% |
| 1974 | -1.85 Percentage change | -146.9% |
| 1975 | 0.5156 Percentage change | -127.9% |
| 1976 | -2.87 Percentage change | -656.5% |
| 1977 | -3.89 Percentage change | +35.4% |
| 1978 | -0.4157 Percentage change | -89.3% |
| 1979 | 0.9127 Percentage change | -319.6% |
| 1980 | 0.302 Percentage change | -66.9% |
| 1981 | 0.2543 Percentage change | -15.8% |
| 1982 | 6.61 Percentage change | +2497.3% |
| 1983 | 5.7 Percentage change | -13.7% |
| 1984 | 3.17 Percentage change | -44.3% |
| 1985 | 5.13 Percentage change | +61.6% |
| 1986 | 1.43 Percentage change | -72.2% |
| 1987 | 1.18 Percentage change | -17.4% |
| 1988 | -2.67 Percentage change | -326.5% |
| 1989 | -0.8667 Percentage change | -67.5% |
| 1990 | -2.22 Percentage change | +156.1% |
| 1991 | -0.2605 Percentage change | -88.3% |
| 1992 | 2.31 Percentage change | -988.1% |
| 1993 | 3.16 Percentage change | +36.5% |
| 1994 | -1.02 Percentage change | -132.2% |
| 1995 | 2.39 Percentage change | -335.7% |
| 1996 | 2.97 Percentage change | +23.9% |
| 1997 | 2.75 Percentage change | -7.3% |
| 1998 | 1.36 Percentage change | -50.6% |
| 1999 | -3.47 Percentage change | -356.0% |
| 2000 | -2.9 Percentage change | -16.4% |
| 2001 | -2.51 Percentage change | -13.6% |
| 2002 | -5.5 Percentage change | +119.2% |
| 2003 | -1.5 Percentage change | -72.7% |
| 2004 | 1.3 Percentage change | -186.9% |
| 2005 | -0.8874 Percentage change | -168.0% |
| 2006 | -3.68 Percentage change | +314.8% |
| 2007 | -4.37 Percentage change | +18.7% |
| 2008 | -4.97 Percentage change | +13.8% |
| 2009 | -1.6 Percentage change | -67.7% |
| 2010 | -1.27 Percentage change | -20.5% |
| 2011 | -3.83 Percentage change | +200.2% |
| 2012 | -7.62 Percentage change | +99.1% |
| 2013 | -1.43 Percentage change | -81.2% |
| 2014 | -1.9 Percentage change | +33.2% |
| 2015 | -2.22 Percentage change | +16.4% |
| 2016 | -0.6011 Percentage change | -72.9% |
| 2017 | -0.4818 Percentage change | -19.8% |
| 2018 | -1.19 Percentage change | +146.1% |
| 2019 | 1.68 Percentage change | -241.9% |
| 2020 | -1.02 Percentage change | -160.7% |
| 2021 | -1.72 Percentage change | +68.2% |
| 2022 | -4.95 Percentage change | +188.2% |
| 2023 | -3.3 Percentage change | -33.4% |
| 2024 | -2.32 Percentage change | -29.5% |
| 2025 | -2.64 Percentage change | +13.6% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1950s | -3.03 Percentage change | -6.66 Percentage change | 0.8512 Percentage change | 10 |
| 1960s | -2.75 Percentage change | -5 Percentage change | -0.7592 Percentage change | 10 |
| 1970s | -0.5913 Percentage change | -3.89 Percentage change | 3.93 Percentage change | 10 |
| 1980s | 2.02 Percentage change | -2.67 Percentage change | 6.61 Percentage change | 10 |
| 1990s | 0.7968 Percentage change | -3.47 Percentage change | 3.16 Percentage change | 10 |
| 2000s | -2.66 Percentage change | -5.5 Percentage change | 1.3 Percentage change | 10 |
| 2010s | -1.89 Percentage change | -7.62 Percentage change | 1.68 Percentage change | 10 |
| 2020s | -2.66 Percentage change | -4.95 Percentage change | -1.02 Percentage change | 6 |
Countries ranked near United States
More environment data for United States
- Historical exposure to drought — Cropland soil moisture anomaly -2.16 Percentage change (2025)
- Exposure to drought — Land soil moisture anomaly -2.91 Percentage change (2024)
- Exposure to drought — Cropland soil moisture anomaly -3.62 Percentage change (2024)
- Heating Degree Days 6,193 (2024)
- Cooling Degree Days 1,199 (2024)
- Total fisheries production 4.68 million metric tons (2024)
- Capture fisheries production 4.21 million metric tons (2024)
- Aquaculture production 467,617 metric tons (2024)
- Nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions from Waste 9.94 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions from Transport (Energy) 20.68 Mt CO2e (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is historical exposure to drought — land soil moisture anomaly in United States?
- Historical exposure to drought — land soil moisture anomaly in United States was -2.64 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 United States?
- The highest recorded value was 6.61 Percentage change in 1982.
- What is the lowest historical exposure to drought — land soil moisture anomaly recorded in United States?
- The lowest recorded value was -7.62 Percentage change in 2012.
- How does United States rank for historical exposure to drought — land soil moisture anomaly?
- United States ranks 84th out of 191 countries with data for 2025.
- Is historical exposure to drought — land soil moisture anomaly rising or falling in United States?
- Over the last ten years it is down 19.2%. The long-run trend across the full record is volatile.
- Where does this United States 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