Rainfall in Turkey 27 Percent Below Normal
The 2025 water year rainfall across Turkey was recorded significantly below normal. According to data from the General Directorate of Meteorology of the Ministry of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change, the country’s average precipitation between October 1, 2024, and August 31, 2025, was only 401.1 kilograms per square meter. This figure represents a decrease of about 27 percent compared to the annual normal average (548.5 kilograms) and nearly 29 percent compared to last year’s average (563.2 kilograms).
This decline made the eleventh month of the current water year the driest month in the past 52 years.
At the regional level, Central Anatolia experienced a 65 percent decrease in rainfall, marking the lowest level in the past 65 years. In the Marmara and Aegean regions, rainfall dropped to the lowest level in 18 years. Southeastern Anatolia and the province of Hatay saw rainfall decrease by more than 60 percent, while the Mediterranean region recorded a 51 percent decline. In contrast, the Black Sea coastal provinces — including Sinop, Samsun, Ordu, Giresun, and Trabzon — experienced an increase of more than 20 percent in rainfall.
At the provincial level, Rize was the rainiest province with 1,546.8 kilograms per square meter, while Giresun recorded the highest increase compared to normal, with a 24 percent rise. On the other hand, Şanlıurfa had the lowest rainfall with 182.3 kilograms per square meter, and Hatay experienced the sharpest decline compared to the normal, with a 64 percent drop.
In Ankara, rainfall fell to the lowest level in 47 years. Many other provinces — including Bilecik, Eskişehir, Gaziantep, Mardin, Nevşehir, Van, Kayseri, Edirne, Batman, and Şırnak — recorded their lowest precipitation levels in several decades. In Kocaeli and Yalova, rainfall dropped to the lowest level in the past 65 years.
