A new method is proposed to calculate integrated index of soil erosion (EI) and the mean soil erosion modulus for most serious erosion worked out to be 18 700 t km^-2 a^-1 by using the polynomial equation modeling method, and then the weight for each grade of soil erosion determined. Based on the EIscalculated with the new method, comparison was made between 1986, 1996 and 2002 in soil erosion status of the whole red soil region in South China and of each of the 476 counties (cities) therein. Results show that the EI of the whole region decreased from 3.81 in 1986 to 3.02 in 2002, which suggests that soil erosion was declining in both area and intensity. The results also show that of the 476 counties (cities) in the region, 163 increased, 285 decreased, and 28 remained unchanged in EI in the period from 1996 to 2002. Areas with decreasing EI were mostly distributed in Jiangxi, Fujian and Zhejiang Provinces, while areas with increasing EI in Guangdong and Hunan Provinces. Particularly in Guangdong Province, the area with increasing EI was larger in acreage, suggesting that though it used to be slight in soil erosion, the situation has been getting worse and worse in the recent years.