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Dataset · FAO

Water Stress

24 years, 2000–2023 · 177 countries

Water stress is SDG indicator 6.4.2: how much freshwater a country withdraws each year as a share of what is renewably available to it. Above 100% a country is taking more water than nature replaces — desalinating it, or drawing down groundwater that will not come back.

This site holds every year from 2000 to 2023, read from FAO’s own data and stored exactly as published.

Open Water Stress, 2023Download all 24 · CSVSee it charted by country →
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Water Stress · the file

Newest
Water Stress, 2023
Held
24 years · 4,120 rows
Licence
CC BY 4.0

0124 years

Every year

Every year comes from FAO’s 2026 release, recalculated on one method. Each opens the full table for that year; each downloads as a CSV.

2000bar height: countries covered, up to 1772023
Every year of Water Stress held on this site, newest first, with its download files.
YearCountriesChangeReadDownload
Water Stress, 2023Newest177±0September 12, 2026CSV
Water Stress, 2022177±0September 12, 2026CSV
Water Stress, 2021177±0September 12, 2026CSV
Water Stress, 2020177±0September 12, 2026CSV
Water Stress, 2019177±0September 12, 2026CSV
Water Stress, 2018177±0September 12, 2026CSV
Water Stress, 2017177±0September 12, 2026CSV
Water Stress, 2016177±0September 12, 2026CSV
Water Stress, 2015177±0September 12, 2026CSV
Water Stress, 2014177±0September 12, 2026CSV
Water Stress, 2013177±0September 12, 2026CSV
Water Stress, 2012177+2September 12, 2026CSV
Show all 24 years
YearCountriesChangeReadDownload
Water Stress, 2011175±0September 12, 2026CSV
Water Stress, 2010175+1September 12, 2026CSV
Water Stress, 2009174±0September 12, 2026CSV
Water Stress, 2008174+3September 12, 2026CSV
Water Stress, 2007171+3September 12, 2026CSV
Water Stress, 2006168+3September 12, 2026CSV
Water Stress, 2005165+3September 12, 2026CSV
Water Stress, 2004162+1September 12, 2026CSV
Water Stress, 2003161+1September 12, 2026CSV
Water Stress, 2002160+3September 12, 2026CSV
Water Stress, 2001157+3September 12, 2026CSV
Water Stress, 2000154—September 12, 2026CSV

Every year in one file, one row per country per year: water-stress-all-editions-nations-inquiry.csv

023 columns

What’s in the file

Every column, what it holds, how it is stored and what its values look like — what a reader needs before opening the file.

Every column in the newest file of Water Stress: what it holds, how it is stored, and its range.
ColumnWhat it holdsStored asRange, 2023DistinctEmptySpread
ISO Codecountry_codeIdentifierThe ISO 3166-1 alpha-3 code, added by this site. Every table here joins on it.Text · 3 letters—1770
CountrycountryNameThe country’s name, as this file spells it.Text—1770
Freshwater withdrawal as a share of available resources (%)water_stressHeadlineThe headline figure: Freshwater withdrawal as a share of available resources (%).Number · up to 2 decimals0.03Republic of the Congo3,850.50Kuwaitmiddle 10.001730

Profiled from the newest file. Range: the lowest and highest value, with the country holding it when only one does. Spread: countries in ten equal steps from lowest to highest. A higher value is the worse result.

03177 countries across every year

Who is covered

How many countries each year holds, continent by continent, who joined and who left, and which places this site covers that the dataset never has.

All regions
Countries in each year of Water Stress, by continent.
201220132014201520162017201820192020202120222023
Africa535353535353535353535353
Americas343434343434343434343434
Asia474747474747474747474747
Europe393939393939393939393939
Oceania444444444444
All177177177177177177177177177177177177

The newest 12 of 24 years.

Who joined and who left

  • 2012
    + Sudan+ South Sudan
  • 2010
    + Panama
  • 2008
    + Bangladesh+ Bhutan+ Peru
  • 2007
    + Andorra+ Saint Lucia+ Thailand
  • 2006
    + Cambodia+ Philippines+ Serbia
  • 2005
    + Costa Rica+ Grenada+ Laos
  • 2004
    + Timor-Leste
  • 2003
    + Honduras

Not in this dataset · 48 places this site covers

FAO gives no figure for these in any year held here. It is the publisher’s choice of scope, and each place’s profile shows what is measured.

American SamoaAnguillaArubaBahamasBermudaBritish Virgin IslandsCayman IslandsChannel IslandsCook IslandsCuraçaoFaroe IslandsFrench PolynesiaGibraltarGreenlandGuamHong KongIsle of ManKiribatiKosovoLiechtensteinMacauMarshall IslandsMicronesiaMonacoMontenegroMontserratNauruNew CaledoniaNiueNorthern CyprusNorthern Mariana IslandsPalauPalestinePuerto RicoSaint MartinSamoaSan MarinoSeychellesSint MaartenSolomon IslandsSomalilandTaiwanTongaTurks and Caicos IslandsTuvaluUnited States Virgin IslandsVanuatuVatican City

04Provenance

Where it comes from

The path from the publisher to this page, and what was checked and changed on the way.

The site’s method

  1. 1 · Publisher

    Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)

    fao.org

  2. 2 · Their file

    Water Stress 2023

    SDG_BulkDownloads_E_All_Data_(Normalized).zip

  3. 3 · Read by this site

    September 12, 2026

    Imported by a script that parses each figure and writes it down unrounded.

  4. 4 · Stored as

    24 files, one per year

    Each downloads as a CSV, or every year together as water-stress-all-editions-nations-inquiry.csv

  5. 5 · Used on

    Its statistic page, and every profile it measures

    /statistics/water-stressA key for Environment & Sustainability in the Country Index.

Precision

The headline is stored to 2 decimals, as published.

Rounded by this site

Never. Tables on screen may show fewer decimals; the files never do.

Changed by this site

Reshaped into one row per country: regional and income-group totals are left out, only the columns listed are kept, each row gets its ISO 3166 code, and some country names are brought to one spelling. No value is recalculated, rescaled or rounded.

From FAO's own SDG Indicators dissemination on FAOSTAT, which computes the indicator from AQUASTAT. Readings are published to two decimal places.

05Reuse

Licence and credit

What the publisher’s licence lets you do, what it asks of you, and a credit line and citation ready to copy.

Every publisher’s terms

Licence · checked September 12, 2026

CC BY 4.0

  • Share and redistribute it
  • Adapt it and build on it
  • Use it commercially
  • Credit the publisher
  • Say what you changed

Share, adapt and use commercially. Credit the publisher and say if you changed anything.

A credit line

Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Water Stress, via Nations Inquiry.

Cite this dataset

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). Water Stress, 2000–2023 [data set]. As held by Nations Inquiry, https://nationsinquiry.com/datasets/water-stress

The publisher’s own citation: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. AQUASTAT. Rome: FAO.

Plain-language summary, not legal advice. The licence text is what binds.

06Questions

Water Stress: questions and answers

What is the Water Stress?

Water stress is SDG indicator 6.4.2: how much freshwater a country withdraws each year as a share of what is renewably available to it. Above 100% a country is taking more water than nature replaces — desalinating it, or drawing down groundwater that will not come back.

Which years of the Water Stress can I download?

All 24, from 2000 to 2023, each as a CSV file, or every year together in one CSV.

Does FAO rank countries on it?

No. FAO publishes values only. The positions shown on this site are derived by ordering the published values, and are labelled as ours.

Can I use it commercially?

Yes, under CC BY 4.0, with credit to FAO. The licence text is linked on this page.

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