Global freshwater resources and withdrawal rates by country

Data from Our World in Data and Statista reveals a distinction between countries with the highest renewable freshwater resources per capita and those with the highest water withdrawal rates.

Iceland leads the world in per capita renewable freshwater resources with 15.7 million cubic feet, followed by Guyana with 10.4 million and Suriname with 5.6 million. Other top countries include Bhutan, Papua New Guinea, Canada, Norway, Gabon, New Zealand, and the Solomon Islands. Many of these nations have small populations and benefit from extensive river systems, lakes, or glacial systems.

Population size significantly impacts per capita rankings. For example, while Brazil possesses massive total water resources, it ranks 24th per capita due to its large population. The United States ranks 54th in freshwater resources per capita but moves to 6th globally when measuring water withdrawal rates.

In terms of water withdrawal per capita, Montenegro ranks first with 127,000 cubic feet, followed by Turkmenistan, Guyana, Chile, and Uruguay. The United States also appears in the top six for withdrawal rates.