Pressure on the world’s water resources is rising steadily — and in many places, it is reaching critical levels. Growing populations, expanding cities, and increasing demand from agriculture and industry are all putting fresh water supplies under strain, particularly in regions that are already struggling.
To cope with this, many countries have turned to desalination — the process of converting seawater into usable fresh water. While this has helped ease shortages in some of the hardest-hit areas, it comes at a cost. Desalination can be energy-intensive, accounting for anything from a negligible share to as much as 15 per cent of a country’s total energy use, depending on how heavily it relies on the technology. Now, a shift is underway. Older, heat-based systems are gradually being replaced by electricity-driven methods, reflecting a broader transition in how energy is produced and used.
The scale of global water use highlights the challenge. Each year, more than 4,000 billion cubic metres of freshwater are withdrawn worldwide. Of this, nearly 1,500 billion cubic metres are consumed — meaning the water is not returned to its source. To put that into perspective, humanity uses roughly the equivalent of the entire volume of Lake Michigan every year.
Agriculture remains by far the largest consumer, accounting for around 70 per cent of total withdrawals and close to 90 per cent of actual consumption. As the global population has grown by about 30 per cent since 2000, water demand from cities has risen at a similar pace. A slight decline in industrial water use has done little to offset this broader increase.
The result is mounting water stress. In many regions, water is being extracted faster than it can be replenished, particularly from underground sources. Over time, this kind of overuse can permanently damage ecosystems and lead to what experts describe as “water bankruptcy” — a point at which natural reserves can no longer recover.
Over the past two decades, nearly one billion more people have come to live in areas facing high water stress, pushing the global total to over three billion. Much of this increase has occurred in regions already under severe strain. Today, about 30 per cent of the world’s population lives in areas classified as extremely water-stressed, with around 85 per cent of those affected residing in emerging and developing economies.
The situation is especially stark in fast-growing countries. In India, for instance, more than 70 per cent of the population lives in water-stressed regions. The scale of the problem is such that the number of people currently affected is roughly equal to the country’s entire population in the early 2000s.
The Middle East and North Africa face an even harsher reality. Home to around 490 million people as of 2024, the region has long grappled with limited water resources. About three-quarters of its population lived under water stress at the turn of the century, and despite some population shifts toward relatively less affected areas, more than 70 per cent still live in conditions of high or extreme water scarcity today.
Taken together, the trends point to a deepening global challenge. As demand continues to rise and climate pressures intensify, managing water resources — and the energy needed to sustain them — is becoming one of the defining issues of our time.
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