According to the FAO’s Aquastat Water Data Panorama 2025 report, published by the press office of this international institution, some regions, particularly North Africa and West Asia, continue to operate with very limited freshwater supplies.

Freshwater withdrawals increased in several regions in recent years, increasing pressure on river basins and aquifers, while agriculture remained the sector that consumed the most water globally, accounting for 72,0% of withdrawals in large areas of the planet.

Water stress levels are high or very high in countries where withdrawals regularly exceed renewable supplies, the report notes.

Aquastat is the FAO’s global information system on water and agriculture, providing internationally comparable data on water resource use and monitoring global trends to meet indicators 6.4.1 and 6.4.2 of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The recent report specifies that, in North Africa, per capita freshwater availability is among the lowest in the world, while withdrawals have increased by 16,0% in the last 10 years.

In West Asia, including most Middle Eastern countries, rapid population growth and agricultural demand contribute to increased pressure on limited supplies. The analysis highlights that, in some parts of Latin America and Asia, irrigation supports a large portion of agricultural production, while in sub-Saharan Africa, irrigated farmland represents only a small fraction of total cultivated land.

This 2025 edition of the Water Data Panorama aligns with FAO’s objective of maximizing access to this resource and supporting evidence-based planning for its use, as well as monitoring the SDGs and international cooperation in the interest of achieving sustainable management, the source adds.

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