Significance Precipitation shows large year-to-year variations, and there is interest in whether there have been long-lasting changes. We use a global land-based database (1940–2009) of annual precipitation and find evidence for changes at around 14% of the global land surface. In contrast, around 76% of the global land shows little or no change. Our results emphasize the importance of fully accounting for natural variability when assessing long-term precipitation change.