The standardized precipitation index(SPI) was calculated based on monthly precipitation data observed at the nine weather stations in Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region from 1959 to 2011, and the spatial and temporal variation of drought was analyzed using the methods of drought station proportion, drought intensity, climate trending rate and the inverse distance weighted interpolation in ArcGIS. Results showed that annual SPI in Ningxia in recent 53 years decreased with an average rate of-0.131/10 a, which was the largest increase in the 21st century. As for the seasonal change of the SPI, drought in spring, summer and autumn was becoming heavier slightly, while in winter, it was becoming lighter. In view of the scope and drought intensity, the heavy drought expanded slightly in the study area, and yet the light and medium drought declined slightly both in scope and intensity. In the four seasons, drought intensity in winter increased slightly, but its scope shrunk; in spring, both drought intensity and scope increased; and in summer and autumn, drought intensity decreased and its scope shrunk. Continuous seasonal drought occurred from spring to autumn had the greatest impact on agricultural production. Spatial differences of annual and seasonal SPI were obvious. From north to south, drought was gradually aggravated, especially in the southern mountains, the most sensitive to change of regional drought.