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Water Scarcity Ranking

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Countries with Water Scarcity 2024

Here are some of the key facts about global water scarcity:

  • Nearly two-thirds of the world's population experience acute water scarcity for at least a month.
  • About a half of the world's population could be living in areas with water shortage by as soonest as 2025
  • 700 million people are likely to be displaced by intense water shortage stress by 2030
  • Approximately 1 in 4 children around the world will be living in regions with severe scarcity of water by 2040

Countries With Water Scarcity

Climate change, population growth and government policies are the main culprits of water scarcity.

Egypt

While Egypt has access to the river Nile which supplies around 93% of water resources in the country, the water supply is threatened by establishing Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam on the upper side of the river Nile. The dam is intended to be a hydroelectric plant to supply 6000 megawatts of electricity to two-thirds of the population without electricity in the country.

Yet, it could have catastrophic impacts. As the reservoirs fill up, water flowing downstream will reduce. If it takes five years to fill the dam, Egypt will lose around 36% of its water supply and half of its agricultural land.

Iraq

Iraq is considered a region with high water scarcity stress, in contrast to when the Iraqi city of Basra was nicknamed the Venice of the East. The country gets about 98% of its surface water from the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, originating from Turkey.

Trouble began in the 1970s when Turkey initiated South- Eastern Anatolia project to construct 19 power plants. For the same, Iraq didn't receive fair compensation.

As if that's not enough, Iran's Daryan dam was inaugurated in 2018. Diyala River -- a tributary was Iraq's Tigris River, was cut off. It's predicted that by 2040, the rivers Tigris and Euphrates within the borders of Iraq will be completely dry. The United States

The world Resource Institute has it that the U.S. has low to medium water scarcity. However, there're some notable differences within the borders of the country. The western region-including California, has been facing a decrease in water supply due to exceptional drought, an event that has been exacerbated by climate.

Furthermore, the federal government imposed a policy that cut the water supply from the Klamath River on the Oregon – California border to protect native fish species. About 85% of farmland in this region relies on water from this river for irrigation, so the policy has posed a major challenge to farmers.

India

India is a water-stressed country that represents 18% of the world's population but owns only 4% of the worlds freshwater. The situation might soon aggravate now that Chine launched a megaproject in 2021 to build a powerful hydroelectric plant upstream of the river Brahmaputra.

The river flows from Tibet to India, supplying about 30% of India's water. The project could reduce Brahmaputra's water supply by up to 60%. So we can always imagine how much that will accelerate water scarcity in India.

  • Each country's water stress level is placed into one of five tiers:
  • 1 - Low (<10%)
  • 2 - Low-Medium (10%-20%)
  • 3 - Medium-High (20%-40%)
  • 4 - High (40%-80%)
  • 5 - Extremely High (>80%)
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Country
Water Scarcity Ranking
Baseline Water Stress
Sierra Leone164<10%
Rwanda163<10%
Papua New Guinea162<10%
Liberia161<10%
Jamaica160<10%
Iceland159<10%
Equatorial Guinea158<10%
Gabon157<10%
Ivory Coast156<10%
Brunei155<10%
Burundi154<10%
Paraguay153<10%
Togo152<10%
Benin151<10%
Cameroon150<10%
Central African Republic149<10%
DR Congo148<10%
Republic of the Congo147<10%
Gambia146<10%
New Zealand145<10%
Belize144<10%
Ghana143<10%
Honduras142<10%
Bolivia141<10%
Croatia140<10%
Norway139<10%
Uganda138<10%
Nicaragua137<10%
Austria136<10%
Guinea Bissau135<10%
Guinea133<10%
Ireland132<10%
Bhutan131<10%
Mozambique130<10%
Bosnia and Herzegovina129<10%
Switzerland128<10%
Hungary127<10%
Colombia126<10%
Slovenia125<10%
Latvia124<10%
Costa Rica123<10%
Ecuador122<10%
Mali121<10%
Montenegro120<10%
Laos119<10%
Panama118<10%
Malawi117<10%
Sweden116<10%
Kenya115<10%
Nigeria114<10%
Finland113<10%
Liechtenstein112<10%
Zambia111<10%
Chad110<10%
Madagascar109<10%
Georgia108<10%
Denmark107<10%
Ethiopia106<10%
Guatemala10510%-20%
Malaysia10410%-20%
Brazil10310%-20%
Angola10210%-20%
Russia10110%-20%
Belarus10010%-20%
Romania9910%-20%
Estonia9810%-20%
Canada9710%-20%
Serbia9610%-20%
Moldova9510%-20%
United Kingdom9410%-20%
Ukraine9310%-20%
South Sudan9210%-20%
Bulgaria9110%-20%
Sudan9010%-20%
Netherlands8910%-20%
Haiti8810%-20%
Dominican Republic8710%-20%
Slovakia8610%-20%
Burkina Faso8510%-20%
Cuba8410%-20%
Poland8310%-20%
Suriname8210%-20%
Somalia8110%-20%
Timor Leste8010%-20%
Venezuela7910%-20%
Uruguay7810%-20%
Argentina7710%-20%
Czech Republic7610%-20%
Cambodia7510%-20%
Tanzania7410%-20%
France7310%-20%
El Salvador7210%-20%
Japan7110%-20%
Philippines7020%-40%
Germany6920%-40%
Vietnam6820%-40%
Myanmar6720%-40%
Lithuania6620%-40%
Zimbabwe6520%-40%
Senegal6420%-40%
North Korea6320%-40%
Tajikistan6220%-40%
Sri Lanka6120%-40%
South Korea6020%-40%
Azerbaijan5920%-40%
Kazakhstan5820%-40%
United States5720%-40%
Bangladesh5620%-40%
Indonesia5520%-40%
Guyana5420%-40%
Mauritania5320%-40%
China5220%-40%
Australia5120%-40%
Luxembourg5020%-40%
Lesotho4920%-40%
Armenia4820%-40%
North Macedonia4740%-80%
Mongolia4640%-80%
Djibouti4540%-80%
Nepal4440%-80%
Portugal4340%-80%
Kyrgyzstan4240%-80%
Italy4140%-80%
Afghanistan4040%-80%
Turkey3940%-80%
Niger3840%-80%
Albania3740%-80%
Andorra3640%-80%
Thailand3540%-80%
Uzbekistan3440%-80%
Turkmenistan3340%-80%
Peru3240%-80%
Pakistan3140%-80%
Algeria3040%-80%
Spain2940%-80%
Eritrea2840%-80%
Morocco2740%-80%
Mexico2640%-80%
Syria25>80%
India24>80%
Iraq23>80%
South Africa22>80%
Namibia21>80%
Tunisia20>80%
Greece19>80%
Belgium18>80%
San Marino17>80%
Chile16>80%
Jordan15>80%
Iran14>80%
Botswana13>80%
Yemen12>80%
Libya11>80%
Egypt10>80%
Israel9>80%
Saudi Arabia8>80%
United Arab Emirates7>80%
Qatar6>80%
Oman5>80%
Lebanon4>80%
Kuwait3>80%
Cyprus2>80%
Bahrain1>80%
showing: 163 rows

Which country has the most water scarcity?

India faces serious water scarcity issues. It has 4% of the globe's freshwater but 18% of its population. Dam construction in China could further reduce available water to India.

Frequently Asked Questions

  1. 10 Countries With Water Stress & Scarcity - Concern Worldwise US
  2. 25 Countries, Housing One-quarter of the Population, Face Extremely High Water Stress - World Resources Institute
  3. Aqueduct Projected Water Stress Country Rankings - World Resources Institute

Sources