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The driest places in the world year-round: ranked by rainfall

Esna tops the list at 0.1 mm averaged across the year. Ranked from 1991–2020 climate normals across 50 destinations in the world.

Top three averaged across all twelve months: Esna (0.1 mm) , Kom Ombo (0.2 mm) , Girga (0.3 mm) . Between first and 50th place the rainfall differs by 5.4 mm.

# Destination Country Rainfall Avg high Avg low Rainfall Wet days Sunshine Sea temp
1 Esna Egypt 0.1 mm 32 °C 19 °C 0 mm 0 349 h –
2 Kom Ombo Egypt 0.2 mm 34 °C 19 °C 0 mm 0 349 h –
3 Girga Egypt 0.3 mm 32 °C 17 °C 0 mm 0 349 h –
4 Sohag Egypt 0.4 mm 31 °C 17 °C 0 mm 0 349 h –
5 Mallawī Egypt 0.4 mm 30 °C 17 °C 0 mm 0 348 h –
6 Assiut Egypt 0.4 mm 31 °C 16 °C 0 mm 0 349 h –
7 Minya Egypt 0.4 mm 30 °C 16 °C 0 mm 0 349 h –
8 Hurghada Egypt 0.8 mm 28 °C 21 °C 1 mm 0 349 h 25 °C
9 Al Fayyum Egypt 0.9 mm 29 °C 16 °C 1 mm 0 348 h –
10 6th of October City Egypt 1.2 mm 28 °C 14 °C 1 mm 0 347 h –
11 Antofagasta Chile 1.4 mm 22 °C 15 °C 1 mm 0 350 h 17 °C
12 Tabuk Saudi Arabia 1.5 mm 29 °C 13 °C 2 mm 0 349 h –
13 Cairo Egypt 1.5 mm 29 °C 15 °C 2 mm 0 345 h –
14 Al ‘Āshir min Ramaḑān Egypt 1.7 mm 28 °C 15 °C 2 mm 0 343 h –
15 Suez Egypt 1.8 mm 28 °C 16 °C 2 mm 0 346 h –
16 New Cairo Egypt 1.9 mm 27 °C 14 °C 2 mm 0 344 h –
17 Ismailia Egypt 2.0 mm 28 °C 15 °C 2 mm 1 335 h –
18 Zagazig Egypt 2.3 mm 29 °C 15 °C 2 mm 1 338 h –
19 Dunhuang China 3.0 mm 18 °C 5.0 °C 3 mm 1 325 h –
20 Ouargla Algeria 3.2 mm 29 °C 16 °C 3 mm 1 339 h –
21 Calama Chile 3.2 mm 23 °C 5.2 °C 3 mm 1 354 h –
22 Najrān Saudi Arabia 3.3 mm 32 °C 17 °C 3 mm 1 340 h –
23 Madinah Saudi Arabia 3.4 mm 34 °C 19 °C 3 mm 1 347 h –
24 Al Mansurah Egypt 3.6 mm 28 °C 15 °C 4 mm 1 341 h –
25 Yanbu Saudi Arabia 3.7 mm 32 °C 22 °C 4 mm 0 350 h 28 °C
26 Port Said Egypt 3.8 mm 25 °C 17 °C 4 mm 1 343 h 22 °C
27 Musaffah United Arab Emirates 3.8 mm 34 °C 22 °C 4 mm 1 340 h –
28 Laayoune Western Sahara 3.8 mm 26 °C 16 °C 4 mm 1 338 h 19 °C
29 Abu Dhabi United Arab Emirates 3.8 mm 33 °C 23 °C 4 mm 1 342 h 28 °C
30 Hami China 3.9 mm 17 °C 5.0 °C 4 mm 1 323 h –
31 Nouakchott Mauritania 4.1 mm 31 °C 21 °C 4 mm 1 338 h 22 °C
32 Chimbote Peru 4.1 mm 23 °C 18 °C 4 mm 1 336 h 19 °C
33 Kafr ash Shaykh Egypt 4.3 mm 28 °C 15 °C 4 mm 1 341 h –
34 Al Ain City United Arab Emirates 4.3 mm 35 °C 21 °C 4 mm 1 342 h –
35 Turpan China 4.4 mm 21 °C 9.1 °C 4 mm 1 323 h –
36 ‘Ibrī Oman 4.4 mm 35 °C 20 °C 4 mm 1 342 h –
37 Chincha Alta Peru 4.6 mm 24 °C 18 °C 5 mm 1 340 h 19 °C
38 Al Kharj Saudi Arabia 4.6 mm 34 °C 18 °C 5 mm 1 339 h –
39 Damanhur Egypt 4.8 mm 27 °C 15 °C 5 mm 1 343 h –
40 Jamestown Saint Helena 4.9 mm 22 °C 21 °C 5 mm 1 338 h 22 °C
41 Marsá Maţrūḩ Egypt 4.9 mm 24 °C 16 °C 5 mm 1 342 h 22 °C
42 Arīsh Egypt 5.0 mm 25 °C 16 °C 5 mm 1 342 h 23 °C
43 Damietta Egypt 5.0 mm 25 °C 17 °C 5 mm 1 343 h 22 °C
44 Iquique Chile 5.1 mm 24 °C 17 °C 5 mm 1 352 h 19 °C
45 Doha Qatar 5.1 mm 32 °C 22 °C 5 mm 1 342 h 27 °C
46 El Oued Algeria 5.1 mm 27 °C 15 °C 5 mm 1 337 h –
47 Lusail Qatar 5.1 mm 32 °C 22 °C 5 mm 1 342 h 27 °C
48 Ar Rayyān Qatar 5.1 mm 33 °C 21 °C 5 mm 1 342 h 27 °C
49 Khartoum Sudan 5.4 mm 36 °C 23 °C 5 mm 1 346 h –
50 Al Muharraq Bahrain 5.6 mm 28 °C 24 °C 6 mm 1 340 h 26 °C

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 the world 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.