Temperature change in Sub-Saharan Africa
Sub-Saharan Africa: Temperature change was 1.21 °C in 2025. ◆ Volatile
Temperature change in Sub-Saharan Africa, 1961–2025
Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Measured in °C.
Analysis
The most recent figure for temperature change in Sub-Saharan Africa is 1.21 °C, measured in 2025.
That represents a change of down 22.4% on the previous year and up 8.2% over ten years.
Over the whole period, temperature change in Sub-Saharan Africa peaked at 1.56 °C in 2024 and was at its lowest, -0.248 °C, in 1968.
That places Sub-Saharan Africa 31st 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 Sub-Saharan Africa, year by year
| Year | °C | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1961 | -0.008 °C | — |
| 1962 | -0.108 °C | +1250.0% |
| 1963 | 0.007 °C | -106.5% |
| 1964 | -0.188 °C | -2785.7% |
| 1965 | -0.221 °C | +17.6% |
| 1966 | 0.09 °C | -140.7% |
| 1967 | -0.162 °C | -280.0% |
| 1968 | -0.248 °C | +53.1% |
| 1969 | 0.327 °C | -231.9% |
| 1970 | 0.286 °C | -12.5% |
| 1971 | -0.162 °C | -156.6% |
| 1972 | 0.059 °C | -136.4% |
| 1973 | 0.496 °C | +740.7% |
| 1974 | -0.211 °C | -142.5% |
| 1975 | -0.178 °C | -15.6% |
| 1976 | -0.176 °C | -1.1% |
| 1977 | 0.243 °C | -238.1% |
| 1978 | 0.126 °C | -48.1% |
| 1979 | 0.406 °C | +222.2% |
| 1980 | 0.427 °C | +5.2% |
| 1981 | 0.11 °C | -74.2% |
| 1982 | 0.235 °C | +113.6% |
| 1983 | 0.557 °C | +137.0% |
| 1984 | 0.403 °C | -27.6% |
| 1985 | 0.275 °C | -31.8% |
| 1986 | 0.275 °C | +0.0% |
| 1987 | 0.737 °C | +168.0% |
| 1988 | 0.522 °C | -29.2% |
| 1989 | -0.045 °C | -108.6% |
| 1990 | 0.498 °C | -1206.7% |
| 1991 | 0.416 °C | -16.5% |
| 1992 | 0.216 °C | -48.1% |
| 1993 | 0.367 °C | +69.9% |
| 1994 | 0.322 °C | -12.3% |
| 1995 | 0.531 °C | +64.9% |
| 1996 | 0.441 °C | -16.9% |
| 1997 | 0.509 °C | +15.4% |
| 1998 | 0.95 °C | +86.6% |
| 1999 | 0.456 °C | -52.0% |
| 2000 | 0.41 °C | -10.1% |
| 2001 | 0.436 °C | +6.3% |
| 2002 | 0.779 °C | +78.7% |
| 2003 | 0.919 °C | +18.0% |
| 2004 | 0.754 °C | -18.0% |
| 2005 | 1.06 °C | +40.8% |
| 2006 | 0.811 °C | -23.6% |
| 2007 | 0.763 °C | -5.9% |
| 2008 | 0.56 °C | -26.6% |
| 2009 | 0.871 °C | +55.5% |
| 2010 | 1.27 °C | +45.7% |
| 2011 | 0.796 °C | -37.3% |
| 2012 | 0.596 °C | -25.1% |
| 2013 | 0.875 °C | +46.8% |
| 2014 | 0.802 °C | -8.3% |
| 2015 | 1.12 °C | +39.9% |
| 2016 | 1.24 °C | +10.2% |
| 2017 | 1.09 °C | -11.7% |
| 2018 | 0.992 °C | -9.1% |
| 2019 | 1.31 °C | +31.7% |
| 2020 | 1.07 °C | -18.0% |
| 2021 | 1.19 °C | +10.7% |
| 2022 | 0.917 °C | -22.7% |
| 2023 | 1.31 °C | +43.2% |
| 2024 | 1.56 °C | +19.1% |
| 2025 | 1.21 °C | -22.4% |
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Temperature change in Sub-Saharan 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1964 | -2785.7% | 0.007 °C | -0.188 °C |
| 1962 | -1250.0% | -0.008 °C | -0.108 °C |
| 1990 | +1206.7% | -0.045 °C | 0.498 °C |
| 1973 | +740.7% | 0.059 °C | 0.496 °C |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | -0.0568 °C | -0.248 °C | 0.327 °C | 9 |
| 1970s | 0.0889 °C | -0.211 °C | 0.496 °C | 10 |
| 1980s | 0.3496 °C | -0.045 °C | 0.737 °C | 10 |
| 1990s | 0.4706 °C | 0.216 °C | 0.95 °C | 10 |
| 2000s | 0.7365 °C | 0.41 °C | 1.06 °C | 10 |
| 2010s | 1.01 °C | 0.596 °C | 1.31 °C | 10 |
| 2020s | 1.21 °C | 0.917 °C | 1.56 °C | 6 |
Countries ranked near Sub-Saharan Africa
More environment data for Sub-Saharan Africa
- Historical exposure to drought — Land soil moisture anomaly -7.11 Percentage change (2025)
- Historical exposure to drought — Cropland soil moisture anomaly -6.36 Percentage change (2025)
- Standard Deviation, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Standard Deviation 0.223 °C (2025)
- Permanent crops — Share in Agricultural land 4.08 % (2024)
- Inland waters — Area 41,984 1000 ha (2024)
- Permanent meadows and pastures — Area 704,021 1000 ha (2024)
- Nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions from Waste 13.02 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions from Transport (Energy) 2.96 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions from Power Industry (Energy) 2.29 Mt CO2e (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is temperature change in Sub-Saharan Africa?
- Temperature change in Sub-Saharan Africa was 1.21 °C in 2025, according to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
- What is the highest temperature change recorded in Sub-Saharan Africa?
- The highest recorded value was 1.56 °C in 2024.
- What is the lowest temperature change recorded in Sub-Saharan Africa?
- The lowest recorded value was -0.248 °C in 1968.
- How does Sub-Saharan Africa rank for temperature change?
- Sub-Saharan Africa ranks 31st out of 33 groups with data for 2025.
- Is temperature change rising or falling in Sub-Saharan Africa?
- Over the last ten years it is up 8.2%. The long-run trend across the full record is volatile.
- Where does this Sub-Saharan 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).