The highest average annual rates of soil erosion by water were found in Italy (8.46 t/ha), Slovenia (7.43 t/ha) and Austria (7.19 t/ha), and the lowest were found in Finland (0.06 t/ha), Estonia (0.21 t/ha) and the Netherlands (0.27 t/ha). Agricultural lands account for 68.3% of total soil losses, while forests account for less than 1%. A new high resolution map (100 m) of soil erosion by water in the EU (2010) is now available, providing details of soil erosion by water across the .
The JRC estimates that an average of 2.46 tonnes per hectare of soil are lost every year across the EU from land that is prone to erosion (agricultural, forests and semi-natural areas), amounting to a loss of 970 million tonnes of soil (around 600 million m3) per year. This gives cause for concern, especially considering that the average annual rate of soil formation in Europe is considerably less, at 1.4 tonnes per hectare.