Annual Precipitation
Annual Precipitation by country
Commentary
Notable countries
Palau has the highest annual precipitation at 3,800 mm/yr, followed by Colombia at 3,240 and Sao Tome and Principe at 3,200. The driest country in the dataset is Egypt with just 18 mm/yr, with Libya (56) and Saudi Arabia (59) also at the very bottom. A notable pattern is how strongly Oceania dominates the top 10, while the bottom ranks are concentrated in arid parts of Asia and Africa.
Regional trends
Oceania is by far the wettest region on average at 2,391 mm/yr, well ahead of South America (1,789) and North America (1,719). Asia (1,057) and Africa (1,002) sit below the global mean of 1,213 mm/yr, while Europe has the lowest continental average at 851.7 mm/yr. Even so, Africa includes both one of the wettest countries, Sao Tome and Principe, and several of the driest, showing strong internal contrasts.
Data source
The figures come from the World Bank / FAO AQUASTAT 2022 and are measured in millimeters per year (mm/yr). The dataset covers 196 countries. As an annual national average, this metric does not show seasonal variation or differences within countries.
Interpretation
Higher values mean a country receives more average annual rainfall, which can support water availability and ecosystems, while lower values indicate much drier conditions. However, more precipitation is not automatically better in every context, since very high rainfall can also bring flooding and other risks. Overall, the data show a world with very large rainfall contrasts, from extremely wet tropical and island countries to very dry desert states.