Renewable fresh water in the world (2023)

This map, created by Álvaro Merino for El Orden Mundial in 2023, shows renewable fresh water worldwide, according to data provided by the World Bank in 2020.

Renewable fresh water is defined as the amount of water that the Earth can regenerate through annual processes each year, such as groundwater, rivers or lakes replenished by snowfall, rainfall or snowmelt.

The map shows this number for the inhabitants of each country in the world. Thanks to this, it is possible to see the huge difference between countries where water is not a problem (Canada, Norway, Colombia, New Zealand and Gabon) and countries where this is an ongoing problem year after year (Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Mauritania and Yemen).

Although global figures indicate that more water is regenerated annually than is consumed, much of this water is located in Canada or Greenland, where it cannot be used. This imbalance has only increased over the last 40 years, causing more and more countries to be subject to severe water stress.

Sources


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