During 1992–2016, the AIS changed from a positive mass balance of over 100 Gt a−1, which was reducing sea-level rise by 0.3 mm a−1, to a state of balance close to zero by 2014. The mass balance successively changed from a gain of 144 ± 61 Gt a−1 during 1992–2001, to 95 ± 26 Gt a−1 during 2003–08, to 34 ± 85 Gt a−1 during 2009–11 and to −12 ± 64 Gt a−1 during 2012–2016