Qatar, the most at risk from water scarcity, depends heavily on seawater desalination systems to supply drinking water to people and industries. The economic impact of severe water shortages came to the fore earlier this year in the south Indian city of Chennai, home to 7.1 million people.

What areas of the planet will face a water crisis in the year 2025?

According to Population Action International, based upon the UN Medium Population Projections of 1998, more than 2.8 billion people in 48 countries will face water stress, or scarcity conditions by 2025. Of these countries, 40 are in West Asia, North Africa or sub-Saharan Africa.

How much of the world’s population does the UN expect to encounter water scarcity by 2025?

Billions of People Lack Water Clean freshwater is an essential ingredient for a healthy human life, but 1.1 billion people lack access to water and 2.7 billion experience water scarcity at least one month a year. By 2025, two-thirds of the world’s population may be facing water shortages.

What cities will run out of water first?

20 cities with water shortage

  • Chennai, India (11 million people)
  • Cape Town, South Africa (4 million people)
  • São Paulo, Brazil (22 million people)
  • Beijing, China (22 million people)
  • Cairo, Egypt (20 million people)
  • Jakarta, Indonesia (30 million people)
  • Istanbul, Turkey (15 million people)

How many people will be affected by water scarcity by 2025?

By 2025, 1.8 billion people will be living in countries or regions with absolute water scarcity, and two-thirds of the world’s population could be living under water stressed conditions.

What is the United Nations doing about the global water crisis?

The United Nations has long been addressing the global crisis caused by insufficient water supply to satisfy basic human needs and growing demands on the world’s water resources to meet human, commercial and agricultural needs.

How many people in the world are facing water shortage?

Another 1.6 billion people, or almost one quarter of the world’s population, face economic water shortage (where countries lack the necessary infrastructure to take water from rivers and aquifers). Water scarcity is among the main problems to be faced by many societies and the World in the XXIst century.

How does water scarcity affect the Millennium Development Goals?

UN-Water, FAO, 2007 The way water scarcity issues are addressed impacts upon the successful achievement of most of the Millennium Development Goals: MDG 1: Access to water for domestic and productive uses (agriculture, industry, and other economic activities) has a direct impact on poverty and food security.