Countries by Level of water stress: freshwater withdrawal as a proportion of available freshwater resources

Ranking 2022

Analysis

This metric measures the ratio between total freshwater withdrawn by all major sectors and total renewable freshwater resources, after taking into account environmental water requirements. As defined by the source: 'The level of water stress: freshwater withdrawal as a proportion of available freshwater resources is the ratio between total freshwater withdrawn by all major sectors and total renewable freshwater resources, after taking into account environmental water requirements. Main sectors, as defined by ISIC standards, include agriculture; forestry and fishing; manufacturing; electricity industry; and se[rvices].' Values above 100 indicate that withdrawals exceed renewable supply, which is only possible through use of non-renewable sources such as fossil groundwater or desalination. The unit is an absolute ratio value. Higher values indicate greater water stress. The dataset covers 178 countries using data from the World Bank World Development Indicators (indicator ER.H2O.FWST.ZS), with 100% of data from the last seven years and 100% classified as official quality. Twenty extreme outliers were identified at the three-sigma threshold.

The top of the ranking is dominated by arid Middle Eastern and Central Asian countries. Kuwait leads at 3850.5, followed by the United Arab Emirates at 1509.9 (rank 2), Saudi Arabia at 974.2 (rank 3), Libya at 817.1 (rank 4), and Qatar at 431.0 (rank 5). All five exceed 100 by a large margin, meaning their withdrawals far surpass renewable supply. Further down, Yemen (rank 6, 169.8), Algeria (rank 7, 144.8), Egypt (rank 8, 141.2), Turkmenistan (rank 9, 135.2), and Bahrain (rank 10, 133.7) also show withdrawal rates well above renewable availability. Israel (rank 11, 132.0), Uzbekistan (rank 13, 123.0), and Pakistan (rank 16, 110.0) continue this pattern. These values reflect conditions where demand substantially exceeds naturally replenishing freshwater supply.

The middle of the ranking includes countries with moderate stress values still reflecting meaningful pressure on resources. South Africa ranks 26th at 67.6, India 27th at 66.5, and Belgium 34th at 52.8. Notably, Belgium's value of 52.8 places it above Morocco (rank 37, 50.8) and Turkey (rank 39, 47.9). Korea, Rep. at rank 21 with a value of 85.2 ranks higher than Iran at rank 22 (81.3). Barbados appears at rank 20 with a value of 87.5, placing it between Sri Lanka (rank 19, 90.8) and Korea, Rep. (rank 21, 85.2). In the lower half, countries such as Brazil (rank 157, 1.5), Norway (rank 150, 2.0), and Canada (rank 134, 3.7) show minimal stress relative to available resources. Congo, Rep. at rank 178 records the lowest value of 0.03.

Several data limitations apply to this metric. The ratio can exceed 100% where desalination, water recycling, or fossil groundwater extraction supplements renewable supply, making direct cross-country comparison complex. Countries with very small renewable resource bases will mechanically record extreme values even with relatively modest absolute withdrawal volumes, as seen with Kuwait and Qatar. The source note's definition is truncated, meaning the full sector list is not confirmed in the provided documentation. Reporting methods and base year assumptions for renewable resource estimates may vary across countries, potentially affecting comparability. The metric does not capture seasonal variability, sub-national distribution, or water quality. The 20 extreme outliers identified at the three-sigma threshold — concentrated at the top of the ranking — indicate the distribution is heavily right-skewed, and headline comparisons between top and bottom-ranked countries should be interpreted with this in mind.

Methodology

Data are drawn from the World Bank World Development Indicators, indicator code ER.H2O.FWST.ZS, for the reference year 2022. The metric is defined as: 'the ratio between total freshwater withdrawn by all major sectors and total renewable freshwater resources, after taking into account environmental water requirements. Main sectors, as defined by ISIC standards, include agriculture; forestry and fishing; manufacturing; electricity industry; and se[rvices].' The unit is an absolute ratio value; higher values indicate greater water stress. The dataset covers 178 countries, exceeding the 80-country coverage threshold. All 178 countries (100%) have data from within the last seven years, and 100% of data points are classified as official quality, against a 70% threshold. A consistency check found 176 of 178 countries (98.9%) reporting in the latest year (2022). Twenty extreme outliers were identified using a three-sigma threshold, concentrated at the top of the ranking. The range spans from 0.03 (Congo, Rep.) to 3850.5 (Kuwait), a spread of over 14 million percent. Average year-over-year change across the dataset is 2.7%, well within the 50% volatility threshold. No microstates (populations under 1 million) are included in the 178-country sample.

Sources

• World Bank