Temperature change in Southern Africa
Southern Africa: Temperature change was 0.892 °C in 2025. ◆ Volatile
Temperature change in Southern Africa, 1961–2025
Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Measured in °C.
Analysis
Southern Africa recorded 0.892 °C for temperature change in 2025.
That represents a change of down 40.7% on the previous year and down 33.3% over ten years.
Over the whole period, temperature change in Southern Africa peaked at 1.9 °C in 2019 and was at its lowest, -0.567 °C, in 1976.
That places Southern Africa 33rd out of 33 groups with data for 2025, putting it in the bottom quarter.
The series is highly variable year to year, so single readings are best treated with caution.
Temperature change in Southern Africa, year by year
| Year | °C | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1961 | 0.192 °C | — |
| 1962 | 0.128 °C | -33.3% |
| 1963 | -0.005 °C | -103.9% |
| 1964 | -0.072 °C | +1340.0% |
| 1965 | -0.023 °C | -68.1% |
| 1966 | 0.248 °C | -1178.3% |
| 1967 | -0.177 °C | -171.4% |
| 1968 | -0.264 °C | +49.2% |
| 1969 | 0.256 °C | -197.0% |
| 1970 | 0.453 °C | +77.0% |
| 1971 | -0.131 °C | -128.9% |
| 1972 | -0.029 °C | -77.9% |
| 1973 | 0.485 °C | -1772.4% |
| 1974 | -0.505 °C | -204.1% |
| 1975 | -0.123 °C | -75.6% |
| 1976 | -0.567 °C | +361.0% |
| 1977 | 0.207 °C | -136.5% |
| 1978 | -0.001 °C | -100.5% |
| 1979 | 0.387 °C | -38800.0% |
| 1980 | 0.158 °C | -59.2% |
| 1981 | -0.251 °C | -258.9% |
| 1982 | 0.272 °C | -208.4% |
| 1983 | 0.75 °C | +175.7% |
| 1984 | 0.573 °C | -23.6% |
| 1985 | 0.526 °C | -8.2% |
| 1986 | 0.339 °C | -35.6% |
| 1987 | 0.904 °C | +166.7% |
| 1988 | 0.32 °C | -64.6% |
| 1989 | -0.205 °C | -164.1% |
| 1990 | 0.496 °C | -342.0% |
| 1991 | 0.195 °C | -60.7% |
| 1992 | 0.73 °C | +274.4% |
| 1993 | 0.71 °C | -2.7% |
| 1994 | 0.145 °C | -79.6% |
| 1995 | 0.82 °C | +465.5% |
| 1996 | -0.108 °C | -113.2% |
| 1997 | 0.097 °C | -189.8% |
| 1998 | 0.973 °C | +903.1% |
| 1999 | 0.889 °C | -8.6% |
| 2000 | -0.071 °C | -108.0% |
| 2001 | 0.313 °C | -540.8% |
| 2002 | 0.59 °C | +88.5% |
| 2003 | 1.01 °C | +71.7% |
| 2004 | 0.744 °C | -26.6% |
| 2005 | 1.06 °C | +42.1% |
| 2006 | 0.072 °C | -93.2% |
| 2007 | 0.815 °C | +1031.9% |
| 2008 | 0.64 °C | -21.5% |
| 2009 | 0.513 °C | -19.8% |
| 2010 | 1.23 °C | +138.8% |
| 2011 | 0.1 °C | -91.8% |
| 2012 | 0.407 °C | +307.0% |
| 2013 | 0.791 °C | +94.3% |
| 2014 | 0.523 °C | -33.9% |
| 2015 | 1.34 °C | +155.8% |
| 2016 | 1.53 °C | +14.5% |
| 2017 | 0.777 °C | -49.3% |
| 2018 | 0.967 °C | +24.5% |
| 2019 | 1.9 °C | +96.8% |
| 2020 | 0.726 °C | -61.8% |
| 2021 | 0.343 °C | -52.8% |
| 2022 | 0.524 °C | +52.8% |
| 2023 | 0.937 °C | +78.8% |
| 2024 | 1.5 °C | +60.5% |
| 2025 | 0.892 °C | -40.7% |
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Temperature change in Southern Africa 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1979 | +38800.0% | -0.001 °C | 0.387 °C |
| 1973 | +1772.4% | -0.029 °C | 0.485 °C |
| 1964 | -1340.0% | -0.005 °C | -0.072 °C |
| 1966 | +1178.3% | -0.023 °C | 0.248 °C |
| 2007 | +1031.9% | 0.072 °C | 0.815 °C |
| 1998 | +903.1% | 0.097 °C | 0.973 °C |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 0.0314 °C | -0.264 °C | 0.256 °C | 9 |
| 1970s | 0.0176 °C | -0.567 °C | 0.485 °C | 10 |
| 1980s | 0.3386 °C | -0.251 °C | 0.904 °C | 10 |
| 1990s | 0.4947 °C | -0.108 °C | 0.973 °C | 10 |
| 2000s | 0.5686 °C | -0.071 °C | 1.06 °C | 10 |
| 2010s | 0.9563 °C | 0.1 °C | 1.9 °C | 10 |
| 2020s | 0.821 °C | 0.343 °C | 1.5 °C | 6 |
Countries ranked near Southern Africa
More environment data for Southern Africa
- Standard Deviation, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Historical exposure to drought — Land soil moisture anomaly 4.17 Percentage change (2025)
- Historical exposure to drought — Cropland soil moisture anomaly 7.61 Percentage change (2025)
- Standard Deviation 0.282 °C (2025)
- Industrial roundwood — Import value 35,013 1000 USD (2024)
- Wood fuel, coniferous — Production 770,000 m3 (2024)
- Wood fuel, non-coniferous — Production 17.80 million m3 (2024)
- Industrial roundwood — Production 17.26 million m3 (2024)
- Industrial roundwood — Import quantity 161,260 m3 (2024)
- Industrial roundwood — Export value 86,901 1000 USD (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is temperature change in Southern Africa?
- Temperature change in Southern Africa was 0.892 °C in 2025, according to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
- What is the highest temperature change recorded in Southern Africa?
- The highest recorded value was 1.9 °C in 2019.
- What is the lowest temperature change recorded in Southern Africa?
- The lowest recorded value was -0.567 °C in 1976.
- How does Southern Africa rank for temperature change?
- Southern Africa ranks 33rd out of 33 groups with data for 2025.
- Is temperature change rising or falling in Southern Africa?
- Over the last ten years it is down 33.3%. The long-run trend across the full record is volatile.
- Where does this Southern Africa data come from?
- The figures come from Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, published as part of Temperature change. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 65 observations, free to reuse under CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO (FAO).
About this data
The FAOSTAT Temperature change on land domain disseminates statistics of mean surface temperature change by country, with annual updates. Statistics are available for monthly, seasonal and annual mean temperature anomalies, i.e., temperature change with respect to a baseline climatology, corresponding to the period 1951–1980. The standard deviation of the temperature change of the baseline methodology is also available. Data are based on the publicly available GISTEMP data, the Global Surface Temperature Change data distributed by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Goddard Institute for Space Studies (NASA-GISS).