Level of water stress (freshwater withdrawal of available resources) in Europe

38 countries in Europe, 2022. Unit: % of available freshwater. World ranking →

First in the ranking
0.4 %
Iceland
Median country
8.1 %
half above, half below
Range
0.4 to 72.6
Iceland - Malta

How to read it

Across 38 countries in Europe, the highest value is in Malta (72.6 %) and the lowest in Iceland (0.4 %).

The median country is at 8.1 %: half are above, half below.

The level of water stress: freshwater withdrawal as a proportion of available freshwater resources is the ratio between total freshwater withdrawn by all major sectors and total renewable freshwater resources, after taking into account environmental water requirements. Main sectors, as defined by ISIC standards, include agriculture; forestry and fishing; manufacturing; electricity industry; and services. This…

Compare selected countries · on the world map

Source: AQUASTAT - FAO's Global Information System on Water and Agriculture, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), uri… · via World Bank WDI (ER.H2O.FWST.ZS) · licence

Water stress over time

%

Ranking of countries

2022
In chart Share of the highest value
1Iceland0.4
2Latvia1.0
3Croatia1.5
4Norway2.0
5Bosnia and Herzegovina2.1
6Lithuania2.2
7Slovakia2.4
8Sweden3.6
9Luxembourg4.0
10Russia4.1
11Belarus4.7
12Albania4.8
13Slovenia5.6
14Serbia5.7
15Ukraine6.3
16Switzerland6.5
17Finland7.1
18Romania7.6
19Ireland8.1
20Hungary8.1
21Austria8.7
22Portugal12.3
23Moldova12.6
24Estonia13.0
25United Kingdom14.4
26Netherlands16.7
27Greece20.3
28France21.4
29Czechia22.0
30Denmark25.3
31Italy29.8
32Poland32.5
33Germany35.4
34Bulgaria40.2
35Spain43.3
36North Macedonia52.6
37Belgium52.8
38Malta72.6
World Bank, WDI · ER.H2O.FWST.ZS · 2022 · CC BY 4.0 Source and licence

Tick a country in the table to add it to the chart above, up to six at a time. The ranking uses the latest year for which at least half of the countries have a value; countries without a value that year are not listed.