Evaluating the global water cycle in reanalyses usually relies on the evaporation (mostly a simulated quantity) and water vapor transport (a blend of model and observed information). Precipitation responds quickly to the analysis of water vapor, and has also been a very uncertain quantity in reanalyses. The recent release of the Japanese 25 year reanalysis (JRA25) adds a new reanalysis for study. Likewise, the global precipitation measurements, merged station and remotely sensed observations, have uncertainly related to the merging process as well as the algorithms that retrieve the physical quantity. Here, we evaluate the global and regional climate-scale precipitation of existing reanalyses and observation based products to quantify the strengths and weaknesses in the respective precipitation statistics and the implications for developing accurate water cycle diagnostics. We will present quantitative metrics at global and regional scales to better assess the reanalysis precipitation and directions for future research.