Impact

This indicator will improve knowledge on the efficiency and sustainability of water usage. Together with indicator 6.4.1, it will provide vital information to ensure that water resources support the world's ecosystems and continue to be available for future generations.

Key results

Water stress globally, despite a slight increase by 0.2 percentage points since 2015, remained at a safe level of 18.2 percent in 2020, but with large regional variations.

At the global level, water stress remains at a safe level of 18.2 percent in 2020. However, this masks substantial regional variations, and represents a 1.2 percent rise since 2015. In 2020, water stress levels ranged from high in Southern Asia and Central Asia to critical in Northern Africa. The situation in Northern Africa is particularly concerning, because not only is it the only subregion registering a critical level of water stress over 100 percent (meaning that more freshwater is being withdrawn that renewable freshwater resources are available); it also registered an alarming increase by 15 percentage points in water stress levels between 2015 to 2020.

Highlights

Elearning

Multimedia

Capacity development

Methodology

Tier: I

Data

Data collection

Related link

External links