Mapped: The World’s Wettest and Driest Countries

The New Diplomat
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By Pallavi Rao

From tropical rainforest nations to the sandy deserts of North Africa and the Middle East, the world’s wettest and driest countries are a study in contrasts.

We map and rank the countries that receive the highest and lowest average annual precipitation in millimeters, per latest data from the World Bank.

Ranked: Top 10 Wettest Countries

Colombia tops the list of nations with the highest average precipitation at 3,240 millimeters (128 inches) in a year.

Its Tutunendo district is the one of the world’s wettest places, averaging nearly 12,000 mm (463 inches) of rain annually.

Rank Country Average Annual
Precipitation (mm)
1 Colombia 3,240
2 Sao Tome & Principe 3,200
3 Papua New Guinea 3,142
4 Solomon Islands 3,028
5 Panama 2,928
6 Costa Rica 2,926
7 Samoa 2,880
8 Malaysia 2,875
9 Brunei 2,722
10 Indonesia 2,702

Note: Figures are rounded.

Off the coast of Africa however, Sao Tome & Principe is not far behind Colombia, receiving about 3,200 mm of rain in 2020.

Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands also average more than 3,000 mm of rain in a year, and Panama (2,928 mm) rounds out the top five.

Noticeably, all 10 countries lie in close proximity to the equator, and near oceans, where rising hot and humid air leads to abundant rainfall.

Ranked: Top 10 Driest Countries

On the other end of the scale, Egypt records the lowest average annual rainfall across all countries, at 18 mm (0.7 inches). For comparison, Colombia receives nearly 180x the amount of rain Egypt does.

Rank Country Average Annual
Precipitation (mm)
1 Egypt 18
2 Libya 56
3 Saudi Arabia 59
4 Qatar 74
5 UAE 78
6 Bahrain 83
7 Algeria 89
8 Mauritania 92
9 Jordan 111
10 Kuwait 121

Note: Figures are rounded.

In fact, countries from North Africa and the Middle East make up the entirety of this list of the driest countries in the world.

Source: Visual Capitalist

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