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FAO · Water Stress
Water stress by country
How much of its available fresh water does a country withdraw?
Of the 177 countries compared in 2023, Republic of the Congo had the lowest reading, 0.03%, and Kuwait had the highest reading, 3,850.50%. In the middle country the figure was 10.00%. Among the 154 countries measured in every edition since 2000, the middle one moved from 10.07% to 10.74%.
Water stress · 2023
Key statistic · Risk & Resilience
Lowest of 177Republic of the Congo
0.03%012023 · position · derived
Who leads
The three countries at the lowest end of 177 compared, the three at the other end, and the first on each continent.
1Photo: File: Bsm15 derivative work: Lkcl it · CC BY-SA 3.0, greyscale
2Photo: Josh Steinitz · CC BY 2.0, greyscale
3Photo: eGuide Travel · CC BY 2.0, greyscale
Highest in 2023
Kuwait3,850.50%
United Arab Emirates1,437.33%
Saudi Arabia974.17%
Where a country sits says how it compares with the others measured, and nothing about why.
Lowest on each continent
- Africa
- Americas
Belize0.12% - Asia
Cambodia1.04% - Europe
Iceland0.39% - Oceania
Papua New Guinea0.13%4 of 21 measured
- Every region
02Every measured country
Water stress on a map
Each country is shaded by its value, in five groups holding the same number of countries. Hover a country for its value, or select it to open its profile. Below the map, each continent’s middle country.
Darker is a lower value — the better end.
- 47.89–3,850.50%
- 14.91–46.09%
- 6.50–14.35%
- 2.21–6.41%
- 0.03–2.17%
- No reading in 2023
- Africa
5.83%
the middle country, of 53 measured · 55 members
Republic of the Congo0.03%
Libya817.14%Lowest and highest reading in Africa.
- Americas
7.30%
the middle country, of 34 measured · 48 members
Belize0.12%
Barbados87.50%Lowest and highest reading in Americas.
- Europe
8.58%
the middle country, of 39 measured · 49 members
Iceland0.39%
North Macedonia65.88%Lowest and highest reading in Europe.
- Asia
49.72%
the middle country, of 47 measured · 52 members
Cambodia1.04%Kuwait3,850.50%Lowest and highest reading in Asia.
- Oceania
4 of 21 measured — too few for a middle: Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea.
Papua New Guinea0.13%
New Zealand8.05%Lowest and highest reading in Oceania.
- Every region
20 sub-regions, lowest middle country first
- Middle Africa
0.50%
the middle country, of 9 measured · 9 members
Republic of the Congo0.03%
Chad4.29%Lowest and highest reading in Middle Africa.
- Southern Africa
2.57%
the middle country, of 5 measured · 5 members
Namibia0.31%
Eswatini77.56%Lowest and highest reading in Southern Africa.
- Western Africa
2.80%
the middle country, of 16 measured · 16 members
Liberia0.26%
Cabo Verde59.68%Lowest and highest reading in Western Africa.
- South America
3.66%
the middle country, of 12 measured · 12 members
Bolivia0.20%
Uruguay11.63%Lowest and highest reading in South America.
- Central America
5.18%
the middle country, of 8 measured · 8 members
Belize0.12%
Mexico44.95%Lowest and highest reading in Central America.
- Northern Europe
5.35%
the middle country, of 10 measured · 13 members
Iceland0.39%
Denmark26.63%Lowest and highest reading in Northern Europe.
- South-eastern Asia
7.04%
the middle country, of 11 measured · 11 members
Cambodia1.04%
Indonesia29.70%Lowest and highest reading in South-eastern Asia.
- Eastern Europe
7.56%
the middle country, of 10 measured · 10 members
Slovakia2.43%
Bulgaria38.84%Lowest and highest reading in Eastern Europe.
- Eastern Africa
10.19%
the middle country, of 17 measured · 19 members
Comoros0.83%
Zimbabwe46.09%Lowest and highest reading in Eastern Africa.
- Southern Europe
12.12%
the middle country, of 12 measured · 17 members
Croatia1.61%North Macedonia65.88%Lowest and highest reading in Southern Europe.
- Caribbean
13.84%
the middle country, of 12 measured · 24 members
Antigua and Barbuda3.15%Barbados87.50%Lowest and highest reading in Caribbean.
- Western Europe
14.91%
the middle country, of 7 measured · 9 members
Luxembourg3.96%
Belgium52.83%Lowest and highest reading in Western Europe.
- Eastern Asia
35.40%
the middle country, of 5 measured · 8 members
Mongolia4.97%
South Korea85.22%Lowest and highest reading in Eastern Asia.
- Southern Asia
54.76%
the middle country, of 9 measured · 9 members
Bhutan1.41%
Pakistan98.12%Lowest and highest reading in Southern Asia.
- Central Asia
69.94%
the middle country, of 5 measured · 5 members
Kazakhstan33.57%
Turkmenistan135.21%Lowest and highest reading in Central Asia.
- Northern Africa
115.80%
the middle country, of 6 measured · 6 members
Morocco18.83%Libya817.14%Lowest and highest reading in Northern Africa.
- Western Asia
116.71%
the middle country, of 17 measured · 19 members
Georgia4.21%Kuwait3,850.50%Lowest and highest reading in Western Asia.
- Australia and New Zealand
2 of 2 measured — too few for a middle: Australia, New Zealand.
Australia4.22%New Zealand8.05%Lowest and highest reading in Australia and New Zealand.
- Melanesia
2 of 5 measured — too few for a middle: Fiji, Papua New Guinea.
Papua New Guinea0.13%
Fiji0.55%Lowest and highest reading in Melanesia.
- Northern America
2 of 4 measured — too few for a middle: Canada, United States.
Canada3.72%
United States24.54%Lowest and highest reading in Northern America.
03The whole field at once
The spread
177 countries, one dot each, on one scale — further right is a higher value. Half the countries are above 10.00%; a quarter are above 35.40%, and a quarter below 3.58%. The bar in each row marks that continent’s middle country.
Log scale: each gridline is ten times the one before, so countries of very different sizes can be seen on one line.
04All 177 ever measured
Every country
In order, highest value first — position 1 is the highest value, the way FAO’s own tables read. “=” marks a position shared with another country. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) ranks nobody on this measure; the position is derived here by ordering the published values. Values above 100% are real, and they are the point. The Gulf states run into the thousands and Kuwait tops the table at nearly 3,900%, which is a statement about desalination and aquifers rather than a data error.
Showing 25 of 177 countries
Values for 2023. The change column compares 2023 with 2022 only; the sparkline covers the recent editions.
052000–2023 · 24 reference years
Over time
Each point is one reference year from 2000, which is where FAO's SDG series begins.
- the middle country
- the middle half of countries
- the middle of the 154 countries measured every time
- each continent’s middle country
The same, year by year
| Year | Countries | Middle country | Middle half | Measured every time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 177 | 10.00% | 3.58% – 35.40% | 10.74% |
| 2022 | 177 | 10.19% | 3.58% – 35.40% | 11.10% |
| 2021 | 177 | 10.46% | 3.54% – 36.14% | 10.93% |
| 2020 | 177 | 10.46% | 3.47% – 36.64% | 11.12% |
| 2019 | 177 | 10.89% | 3.55% – 38.70% | 11.36% |
| 2018 | 177 | 10.46% | 3.52% – 37.16% | 11.83% |
| 2017 | 177 | 10.46% | 3.49% – 34.89% | 11.85% |
| 2016 | 177 | 10.46% | 3.46% – 33.50% | 11.67% |
| 2015 | 177 | 10.19% | 3.43% – 32.79% | 11.18% |
| 2014 | 177 | 10.46% | 3.30% – 32.01% | 11.80% |
| 2013 | 177 | 10.46% | 3.39% – 32.05% | 11.09% |
| 2012 | 177 | 10.46% | 3.47% – 31.96% | 11.04% |
| 2011 | 175 | 10.46% | 3.57% – 31.44% | 10.99% |
| 2010 | 175 | 10.71% | 3.51% – 31.71% | 11.15% |
| 2009 | 174 | 10.96% | 3.46% – 33.11% | 11.08% |
| 2008 | 174 | 10.82% | 3.47% – 32.78% | 11.00% |
| 2007 | 171 | 11.18% | 3.66% – 32.58% | 10.93% |
| 2006 | 168 | 10.43% | 3.46% – 33.37% | 10.85% |
| 2005 | 165 | 10.25% | 3.79% – 35.56% | 10.31% |
| 2004 | 162 | 10.72% | 3.82% – 36.04% | 10.72% |
| 2003 | 161 | 10.37% | 3.77% – 38.28% | 10.80% |
| 2002 | 160 | 10.18% | 3.67% – 37.28% | 10.18% |
| 2001 | 157 | 10.13% | 3.68% – 37.61% | 10.08% |
| 2000 | 154 | 10.07% | 3.50% – 39.28% | 10.07% |
062022 → 2023
Who rose and fell
The biggest changes in value between the two newest editions — reference years recalculated in one report, not two separate publications. Places are shown second, because they also move when other countries do.
Improved most
before → after- United Arab Emirates1,668.67% → 1,437.33% · 2nd → 2nd−231.34
- Pakistan109.99% → 98.12% · 16th → 17th−11.87
Israel129.67% → 119.58% · 10th → 12th−10.09
Madagascar32.05% → 24.99% · 49th → 59th−7.06
Estonia13.05% → 8.58% · 77th → 95th−4.47
Worsened most
before → after- North Macedonia52.55% → 65.88% · 34th → 27th+13.33
Tunisia94.51% → 97.05% · 18th → 18th+2.54
Ireland8.05% → 9.42% · 97th → 91st+1.37
Thailand20.18% → 21.48% · 67th → 64th+1.30
Ukraine6.30% → 7.33% · 108th → 102nd+1.03
177 countries were measured in both 2022 and 2023.
07Across every edition
Water stress in records
The extremes of the statistic. A record reached by more than one country names none of them.
Highest reading on record
3,850.50%
Freshwater withdrawal as a share of available resources (%)
Lowest reading on record
0.03%
Freshwater withdrawal as a share of available resources (%)
Biggest improvement between editions
−1,037.35
1,037.65% → 0.30%
Biggest decline between editions
+3,398.70
0.30% → 3,399.00%
Most improved since first measured
−302.10
309.14% → 7.04%
At the top most often
24 of 24
editions, alone at the first-listed end
08The measure
About 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.
What the number is: Freshwater withdrawal as a share of available resources (%).
What it does not measure
It is a national average, so a country can be stressed in one river basin and not another, and it does not measure water quality or who has access to safe water.
09Where it fits
Connections
Its part in the Country Index, the statistics whose values line up most closely with it across countries, and others on the same subject.
In the Country Index
A key statistic for Risk & Resilience
“Whether a country is taking more water than nature replaces — the one hazard in this subject it creates for itself rather than faces.”
- Edition used
- 2023 (data 2023)
- Countries
- 177
- Licence
- CC BY 4.0
Moves with
Where water stress is higher, these tend to be higher too.
- Agricultural Irrigated LandFAO · 96 countries in commonρ 0.44
Moves against
Where water stress is higher, these tend to be lower.
- Renewable Internal Freshwater Resources per CapitaFAO · 176 countries in commonρ −0.62
- Forest AreaFAO · 177 countries in commonρ −0.52
Rank correlation (ρ, from −1 to 1) across countries, on each statistic’s newest edition, out of 125 statistics sharing at least 80 countries with this one. Two statistics that move together do not cause each other.
10Keep reading
Explore further
The countries at either end
11Questions
Water stress: questions and answers
Which country has the lowest water stress?
Republic of the Congo, at 0.03%, among the 177 countries compared in 2023.
Which country has the highest water stress?
Kuwait, at 3,850.50%, among the 177 countries compared in 2023.
How many countries does the Water Stress cover?
177 in 2023. The number measured varies from 154 to 177 between editions.
What is the world average water stress?
This site does not calculate a world average, which would depend on how countries are weighted. In the middle country of the 177 compared in 2023, the figure was 10.00%.
Is this Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)’s own ranking?
No. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) publishes the values but ranks nobody; the position on this page is derived by Nations Inquiry by ordering the published values, and equal values share a position.
How often is the Water Stress published?
This site holds 24 reference years, 2000–2023, all recalculated in Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)’s 2026 report on one method — not 24 separate publications.
Where does the data come from, and can I download it?
From Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), under CC BY 4.0. From FAO's own SDG Indicators dissemination on FAOSTAT, which computes the indicator from AQUASTAT. Readings are published to two decimal places. Every edition is available on this site’s Datasets pages as a full table, unrounded.
12Method
Sources, method and citation
Source
Water Stress — Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)
From FAO's own SDG Indicators dissemination on FAOSTAT, which computes the indicator from AQUASTAT. Readings are published to two decimal places.
Newest edition
Report year 2023Data year 2023
Cite the source as: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. AQUASTAT. Rome: FAO.
Licence: CC BY 4.0, checked 2026-09-12.
How this page reads the numbers
- Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) ranks nobody on this measure. The position is derived by Nations Inquiry by ordering the published values; equal values share a position.
- Which end is better follows the publisher’s own reading of the measure.
- A country is named at an end only when it holds that value alone. Where several share it, the page says how many and names none first.
- Values are stored exactly as published and trimmed only for display. “The middle country” is the median of the countries measured, not a world average.
The full note on this data
24 reference years (2000–2023), covering 176 to 180 countries, read from FAOSTAT's SDG Indicators domain — FAO's own dissemination of SDG indicator 6.4.2, which it computes from AQUASTAT. It measures how much freshwater a country withdraws each year as a share of what is renewably available to it. ⚠ VALUES ABOVE 100% ARE REAL, AND THEY ARE THE POINT. A country over 100 is taking more water than nature replaces — desalinating it, or drawing down groundwater that will not come back. The Gulf states run into the thousands, and Kuwait tops the table at nearly 3,900%. ⚠ THE ROUTE CHANGED ON 2026-09-12, AND IT COST SOMETHING. Until then this came through the World Bank's copy (ER.H2O.FWST.ZS), which ran from 1987 and carried NINE decimals — but froze at 2022, one year outside the Country Index's data window, which is what kept this indicator out of it. FAO's own file publishes 2023, and publishes it to TWO decimals; it starts at 2000 because SDG monitoring does. Fresher and coarser was the deliberate choice, taken with the user on 2026-09-12. ⚠ Unusually, the redistributor held MORE precision than the producer — the reverse of the pattern AGENTS.md warns about, and worth remembering before assuming a producer's file is always the richer one. ⚠ These are not separate published reports — `restatedByReport` names the FAOSTAT SDG release they were pulled from. ⚠ A statistic, not an index: FAO publishes no rank, so none is stored and the POSITION shown on the statistics page is derived here by ordering the score, and labelled as ours. It is a KEY in the Country Index's Risk & Resilience topic from the 2026 edition.
Photographs
The countries at the top of this statistic, from their profiles: Wikimedia Commons, shown in greyscale, each used under the licence named.
- Republic of the Congo — File: Bsm15 derivative work: Lkcl it, CC BY-SA 3.0
- Belize — Josh Steinitz, CC BY 2.0
- Papua New Guinea — eGuide Travel, CC BY 2.0
Cite this page
Nations Inquiry (2026). Water stress by country: Water Stress, data from Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). https://nationsinquiry.com/statistics/water-stress