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The driest places in South America year-round: ranked by rainfall

Antofagasta tops the list at 1.4 mm averaged across the year. Ranked from 1991–2020 climate normals across 50 destinations in South America.

Top three averaged across all twelve months: Antofagasta (1.4 mm) , Tabuk (1.5 mm) , Calama (3.2 mm) . Between first and 50th place the rainfall differs by 48 mm.

# Destination Country Rainfall Avg high Avg low Rainfall Wet days Sunshine Sea temp
1 Antofagasta Chile 1.4 mm 22 °C 15 °C 1 mm 0 350 h 17 °C
2 Tabuk Saudi Arabia 1.5 mm 29 °C 13 °C 2 mm 0 349 h –
3 Calama Chile 3.2 mm 23 °C 5.2 °C 3 mm 1 354 h –
4 Najrān Saudi Arabia 3.3 mm 32 °C 17 °C 3 mm 1 340 h –
5 Madinah Saudi Arabia 3.4 mm 34 °C 19 °C 3 mm 1 347 h –
6 Yanbu Saudi Arabia 3.7 mm 32 °C 22 °C 4 mm 0 350 h 28 °C
7 Chimbote Peru 4.1 mm 23 °C 18 °C 4 mm 1 336 h 19 °C
8 Chincha Alta Peru 4.6 mm 24 °C 18 °C 5 mm 1 340 h 19 °C
9 Al Kharj Saudi Arabia 4.6 mm 34 °C 18 °C 5 mm 1 339 h –
10 Iquique Chile 5.1 mm 24 °C 17 °C 5 mm 1 352 h 19 °C
11 Riyadh Saudi Arabia 5.6 mm 32 °C 18 °C 6 mm 1 337 h –
12 Al Hufūf Saudi Arabia 5.8 mm 34 °C 19 °C 6 mm 1 340 h –
13 Ha'il Saudi Arabia 6.4 mm 29 °C 15 °C 6 mm 1 340 h –
14 Ica Peru 6.5 mm 28 °C 18 °C 7 mm 2 339 h –
15 Tacna Peru 6.8 mm 23 °C 15 °C 7 mm 2 336 h –
16 Lima Peru 7.1 mm 23 °C 18 °C 7 mm 2 337 h 19 °C
17 Callao Peru 7.1 mm 23 °C 18 °C 7 mm 2 337 h 19 °C
18 Santa Anita - Los Ficus Peru 7.1 mm 21 °C 16 °C 7 mm 2 336 h 19 °C
19 Jeddah Saudi Arabia 7.1 mm 32 °C 24 °C 7 mm 1 346 h 29 °C
20 Dammam Saudi Arabia 7.3 mm 31 °C 21 °C 7 mm 1 339 h 26 °C
21 Buraydah Saudi Arabia 7.7 mm 32 °C 17 °C 8 mm 1 337 h –
22 Unaizah Saudi Arabia 8.1 mm 32 °C 17 °C 8 mm 1 338 h –
23 Al Jubayl Saudi Arabia 8.4 mm 32 °C 21 °C 8 mm 1 336 h 26 °C
24 Coquimbo Chile 8.5 mm 20 °C 14 °C 9 mm 1 328 h 15 °C
25 La Serena Chile 8.7 mm 22 °C 14 °C 9 mm 1 328 h 15 °C
26 Hafar Al-Batin Saudi Arabia 9.2 mm 32 °C 18 °C 9 mm 1 334 h –
27 Makkah Saudi Arabia 11 mm 35 °C 22 °C 11 mm 2 344 h –
28 Arica Chile 12 mm 22 °C 16 °C 12 mm 4 347 h 20 °C
29 Ta’if Saudi Arabia 15 mm 28 °C 17 °C 15 mm 3 343 h –
30 Trujillo Peru 16 mm 24 °C 19 °C 16 mm 4 334 h 19 °C
31 Chiclayo Peru 16 mm 25 °C 19 °C 16 mm 3 333 h 19 °C
32 Şabyā Saudi Arabia 18 mm 33 °C 26 °C 18 mm 3 335 h 30 °C
33 Neuquén Argentina 19 mm 22 °C 10 °C 19 mm 3 318 h –
34 Piura Peru 25 mm 30 °C 20 °C 25 mm 3 328 h –
35 Sullana Peru 27 mm 31 °C 20 °C 27 mm 3 328 h –
36 Valparaíso Chile 29 mm 16 °C 12 °C 29 mm 2 333 h 15 °C
37 Viña del Mar Chile 29 mm 20 °C 12 °C 29 mm 2 333 h 15 °C
38 Petrolina Brazil 33 mm 32 °C 22 °C 33 mm 4 319 h –
39 Khamis Mushait Saudi Arabia 34 mm 26 °C 15 °C 34 mm 7 340 h –
40 Coro Venezuela 38 mm 33 °C 25 °C 38 mm 6 339 h 27 °C
41 Porlamar Venezuela 39 mm 27 °C 25 °C 39 mm 10 346 h 26 °C
42 Campina Grande Brazil 39 mm 28 °C 20 °C 39 mm 9 317 h –
43 Caruaru Brazil 39 mm 28 °C 20 °C 39 mm 10 319 h –
44 Santiago Chile 41 mm 21 °C 9.4 °C 41 mm 4 324 h –
45 Barquisimeto Venezuela 41 mm 30 °C 21 °C 41 mm 11 321 h –
46 Maipú Chile 41 mm 22 °C 9.8 °C 41 mm 4 325 h –
47 Manta Ecuador 46 mm 28 °C 23 °C 46 mm 7 280 h 25 °C
48 Arapiraca Brazil 46 mm 29 °C 21 °C 46 mm 12 325 h –
49 Mossoró Brazil 46 mm 33 °C 24 °C 46 mm 7 330 h –
50 La Rioja Argentina 50 mm 23 °C 14 °C 50 mm 6 316 h –

Averaged across all twelve months, and only for destinations with a full twelve-month series and a published climate page. Download this ranking as CSV.

Month by month

The same ranking for each month of the year:

How this ranking is built

What is ranked
Total precipitation, in mm, averaged across all twelve months, lowest first.
Period
1991–2020 climate normals: the same 30 years for every destination, so the list compares like with like.
Who is included
50 destinations in South America with a published climate page and a complete twelve-month series. Neighbouring places that share a climate series are shown once.
Ties
Equal values are ordered by fewest wet days.
Sources
ERA5 / ERA5-Land reanalysis via Open-Meteo; sea temperature from NOAA OISST v2.1. Measured values are reproduced unchanged; only the ordering is ours.

Data sources and method

Normal period
1991–2020
Dataset version
era5-1991-2020-scores1.1
Last processed

Measured values come from ERA5 reanalysis and are reproduced unchanged. Calculated by us: ranking order, beach and comfort scores. Full formulas are on the methodology page.

Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026. Neither the European Commission nor ECMWF is responsible for any use that may be made of the Copernicus information or data it contains.