2.2B
people lack safely managed drinking water
WHO / UNICEF JMP, 2023
Global Water Crisis Report · Updated June 2026
The Global Water Crisis
2.2 billion people lack safe water. This is where, and why.
- 703M
- no basic water service
- 1 in 4
- people worldwide affected
- 27
- country & regional reports
People without safely managed drinking water
2.2B
That’s roughly 1 in every 4 people on Earth.
Source: WHO / UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme, 2023
The definition
What is the global water crisis?
The global water crisis is the ongoing shortage of safe drinking water and adequate sanitation affecting communities worldwide. Roughly 2.2 billion people lack safely managed drinking water services. About 703 million have no basic water access at all.
The crisis has many causes: climate change, population growth, pollution, conflict, and decades of underinvestment in water infrastructure. It is not evenly distributed. Communities in sub-Saharan Africa, conflict zones in the Middle East, and parts of South Asia face the most severe challenges. Within those regions, rural communities and women and children bear the greatest burden, often walking hours each day to collect water of uncertain quality.
The scale of the crisis
Key facts and numbers
Five numbers that define the crisis. Sources cited.
703M
have no basic water service at all
WHO / UNICEF JMP, 2023
3.5B
lack safely managed sanitation
WHO / UNICEF JMP, 2023
200M
hours spent daily by women and girls collecting water
UNICEF
$260B
lost each year to inadequate water and sanitation
World Bank
Country reports
Water crisis reports by country
Reports on 27 countries and regions. Use the map, sort by severity, or browse by region.
27
reports shown
Crisis severity
LowerAcute
| Country | Region | Severity ↓ | % with basic access | Primary driver | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Sudan | Africa |
60%
|
Conflict | Report | |
| 02 | DR Congo | Africa |
46%
|
Infrastructure | Report | |
| 03 | Yemen | Middle East & North Africa |
55%
|
Conflict | Report | |
| 04 | Haiti | The Americas |
65%
|
Infrastructure | Report | |
| 05 | Kenya | Africa |
72%
|
Drought | Report | |
| 06 | Women in Kenya | Africa | — | Gender | Report | |
| 07 | Sierra Leone | Africa |
63%
|
Infrastructure | Report | |
| 08 | Ethiopia | Africa |
50%
|
Drought | Report | |
| 09 | Tanzania | Africa |
61%
|
Rural access | Report | |
| 10 | Lesotho | Africa |
71%
|
Sanitation | Report | |
| 11 | Eswatini | Africa |
69%
|
Sanitation | Report | |
| 12 | Rural & Urban Africa | Africa | — | Regional | Report | |
| 13 | Middle East | Middle East & North Africa | — | Regional | Report | |
| 14 | Turkey, Syria, Iraq | Middle East & North Africa | — | Shared basin | Report | |
| 15 | Iran | Middle East & North Africa |
94%
|
Depletion | Report | |
| 16 | Israel, Palestine, Jordan | Middle East & North Africa | — | Shared basin | Report | |
| 17 | India | Asia |
93%
|
Depletion | Report | |
| 18 | Women in India | Asia | — | Gender | Report | |
| 19 | Bangladesh | Asia |
98%
|
Arsenic | Report | |
| 20 | Cambodia | Asia |
79%
|
Pollution | Report | |
| 21 | Asian Food Crisis | Asia | — | Regional | Report | |
| 22 | South Africa | Africa |
94%
|
Drought | Report | |
| 23 | Arab Gulf | Middle East & North Africa | — | Depletion | Report | |
| 24 | Egypt | Middle East & North Africa |
99%
|
Scarcity | Report | |
| 25 | Nepal | Asia |
92%
|
Glacial melt | Report | |
| 26 | Thailand | Asia |
100%
|
Pollution | Report | |
| 27 | Vietnam | Asia |
97%
|
Salinity | Report |
Africa
11 reports
72%
Kenya
severity 3/4
Water access strained in Western Kenya and the semi-arid Southeast. Drought and erratic rainfall stress rural communities.
Drought
Read the report
Topic
Women in Kenya
How water scarcity disproportionately affects women and girls in Kenyan communities.
Gender
Read the report
63%
Sierra Leone
severity 3/4
Declining water tables are leaving hand-dug wells unreliable. Deep borehole conversions are underway.
Infrastructure
Read the report
60%
Sudan
severity 4/4
Conflict has shattered water infrastructure. Aquifers contaminated, millions displaced without reliable water.
Conflict
Read the report
50%
Ethiopia
severity 3/4
Recurring drought and population growth strain water sources. Rural access lags urban areas.
Drought
Read the report
94%
South Africa
severity 2/4
Major cities including Cape Town have come close to depleting reservoirs in recent dry years.
Drought
Read the report
61%
Tanzania
severity 3/4
Water access challenges across rural regions. Infrastructure gaps in dry zones.
Rural access
Read the report
71%
Lesotho
severity 3/4
Exports water to South Africa while struggling to deliver it to its own rural population.
Sanitation
Read the report
69%
Eswatini
severity 3/4
Rural water access challenges across the country, especially in highland districts.
Sanitation
Read the report
46%
DR Congo
severity 4/4
Abundant freshwater resources, but severe access gaps from conflict and infrastructure collapse.
Infrastructure
Read the report
Topic
Rural & Urban Africa
How water access differs between African cities and the rural communities around them.
Regional
Read the report
Middle East & North Africa
7 reports
Topic
Middle East
Regional view of water scarcity across the Middle East and North Africa.
Regional
Read the report
Topic
Arab Gulf
Gulf states meet most water demand with desalination as natural freshwater runs out.
Depletion
Read the report
Topic
Turkey, Syria, Iraq
The Tigris and Euphrates basins are under stress from dams, conflict, and drought.
Shared basin
Read the report
94%
Iran
severity 3/4
Severe aquifer depletion. Major cities face water rationing. Climate change is accelerating the crisis.
Depletion
Read the report
99%
Egypt
severity 2/4
Per-capita water availability is among the lowest globally. Population growth and pressure on the Nile drive scarcity.
Scarcity
Read the report
55%
Yemen
severity 4/4
Conflict has destroyed water infrastructure. Cholera outbreaks track shortages of safe water.
Conflict
Read the report
Israel, Palestine, Jordan
severity 3/4
Shared water sources with unequal access. Political conflict intersects with regional water stress.
Shared basin
Read the report
Asia
8 reports
93%
India
severity 3/4
The world’s largest groundwater user. Rapid depletion threatens agriculture and urban supplies.
Depletion
Read the report
Topic
Women in India
How water collection falls on women and girls, affecting education and economic participation.
Gender
Read the report
98%
Bangladesh
severity 3/4
Arsenic contamination affects tens of millions. Safe water is elusive despite abundant surface water.
Arsenic
Read the report
92%
Nepal
severity 2/4
Glacial melt is disrupting traditional water sources. Remote communities walk long distances for water.
Glacial melt
Read the report
79%
Cambodia
severity 3/4
Mekong River dependence and seasonal flooding create complex water access challenges.
Pollution
Read the report
100%
Thailand
severity 2/4
Industrial pollution and agricultural runoff affect water quality across the country.
Pollution
Read the report
97%
Vietnam
severity 2/4
Water pollution from industrialization. Saltwater intrusion threatens the Mekong Delta.
Salinity
Read the report
Topic
Asian Food Crisis
How water scarcity in Asia is driving food insecurity and reshaping farming.
Regional
Read the report
Topics
Water scarcity topics
Primers, data, and reports on the populations most affected by water scarcity.
Primer
What is water scarcity?
A plain explanation of water scarcity, its causes, and how it differs from a water crisis.
ReadData
Water scarcity statistics
Current data on global water scarcity, access rates, and trends.
ReadHealth
Scarcity & children
How lack of safe water harms children’s health, education, and development.
ReadFood
Scarcity & agriculture
Farming uses the largest share of fresh water. What scarcity means for global food supply.
ReadHealth
Scarcity & sanitation
The link between water access and safe sanitation infrastructure.
ReadPolicy
Scarcity & privatization
How private ownership of water resources affects access in developing economies.
ReadConflict
Scarcity & displaced persons
How forced displacement intersects with water access in refugee and IDP populations.
ReadAmericas
Water scarcity in the U.S.
Water access challenges within the United States, from the Southwest to Appalachia.
ReadGender
Water & women’s empowerment
How clean water enables women’s economic and educational participation.
ReadGender
Women and water inequality
The gendered burden of water collection and its effects on women and girls worldwide.
ReadResearch library
Research and further reading
Reports, health context, and topic-specific resources.
Health and water
Regional reports
Related articles
Our work
Where The Water Project works
We fund water projects in Kenya, Sierra Leone, and Uganda. These pages describe the communities, the work, and the impact.
The drivers
What causes the global water crisis?
Five overlapping forces drive the crisis. Every country faces a different mix.
01
Climate change
Shifting rainfall patterns, longer droughts, and glacier melt disrupt water sources communities have relied on for generations. Wet seasons that once arrived on schedule now skip or shorten.
02
Population growth & urbanization
Demand for water outpaces what infrastructure can deliver. Booming cities strain aging systems, and rural areas lose access as water tables fall.
03
Pollution
Industrial runoff, untreated sewage, and agricultural chemicals contaminate freshwater sources. Water that looks clean can carry disease.
04
Conflict
War destroys water systems and displaces communities to places without established infrastructure. Yemen, Sudan, and Syria are recent examples.
05
Poverty & underinvestment
Communities without resources cannot build or maintain water infrastructure. When wells break, they stay broken.
How water and poverty intersectProgress
What is being done to solve the water crisis?
Solutions exist, and they work. Access to clean water has expanded over the last twenty years through a combination of government investment, NGO programs, and community-led initiatives.
Effective solutions include
- 01 Drilling deep borehole wells where groundwater is reliable
- 02 Protecting natural springs that provide water year-round
- 03 Building rainwater harvesting systems for seasonal storage
- 04 Constructing sand dams to capture and slowly release water
- 05 Training community members to maintain water infrastructure long-term
Frequently asked questions
Common questions about the global water crisis
What is the global water crisis?
The global water crisis is the ongoing shortage of safe drinking water and adequate sanitation affecting an estimated 2.2 billion people. It is driven by climate change, population growth, pollution, conflict, and underinvestment in infrastructure.
How many people lack access to clean water?
Roughly 2.2 billion people lack safely managed drinking water services. About 703 million have no basic water service at all, according to the WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme.
Which countries have the worst water crisis?
Yemen, Sudan, Ethiopia, Somalia, and Chad consistently rank among the countries with the most severe water access challenges. Conflict-affected regions and parts of sub-Saharan Africa face the greatest burden.
Is the water crisis getting better or worse?
Globally, access to basic water services has improved over the last two decades. But climate change, population growth, and conflict are reversing progress in many regions. The crisis is improving in some places and worsening in others.
How can I help solve the water crisis?
Support organizations doing direct water access work, advocate for water infrastructure funding, and share information about the crisis. The Water Project funds wells and water systems in communities that need them, and every donation goes toward sustainable, community-owned water solutions.