Renewable Internal Freshwater Resources by Country in 2022

Renewable internal freshwater resources measure renewable water generated within a country from internal river flows and groundwater recharge associated with rainfall. The 2022 World Bank data contain 217 economies and territories, with 181 numeric values and 36 source-missing values. The unit is billion cubic meters.

What renewable internal freshwater resources measure

The indicator focuses on renewable freshwater generated inside national borders, including internal river flows and groundwater recharge from precipitation. It differs from a measure of total water available after adding flows that enter from neighboring countries. The emphasis is on water generated internally.

It is also not a measure of actual freshwater withdrawal or household, agricultural, or industrial water use. A country can have a large renewable resource base and still face local scarcity or high demand. Another country with a small internal resource base may rely on desalination, water imports, reuse, or nonrenewable groundwater.

The 2022 frame has 181 numeric values and 36 missing values

The same-year comparison uses the 181 numeric observations from the 217-row 2022 frame. The remaining 36 rows have no 2022 source value and are not converted to zero. A separate latest-observation series includes 2021 values for a small number of places, but those earlier values are not substituted into the 2022 comparison.

The median is 34.8 billion m³ and the simple mean is 236.5 billion m³. The first quartile is 6.0 and the third quartile 141.0 billion m³. The large gap between the mean and median reflects a strongly right-skewed distribution.

Brazil is highest at 5,661 billion m³

Brazil records 5,661 billion m³, followed by the Russian Federation at 4,312, Canada at 2,850, the United States at 2,818, and China at 2,812.9. Colombia, Indonesia, Peru, India, and Myanmar also exceed 1,000 billion m³.

10 numeric observations are at least 1,000 billion m³, 15 are at least 500 billion m³, and 58 are at least 100 billion m³. A relatively small group of very large values pulls the arithmetic mean far above the median.

The median is 34.8 billion m³

The median of 34.8 billion m³ is the middle value when the 181 numeric observations are ordered by size. The interquartile range runs from 6.0 to 141.0 billion m³. This center is far below the mean of 236.5 billion m³ because the upper tail extends into the thousands.

By band, 23 observations are below 1 billion m³, 33 are from 1 to below 10, 67 are from 10 to below 100, 43 are from 100 to below 500, and 15 are at least 500. The featured chart uses these bands so the middle and lower parts of the distribution remain visible.

Twenty-three observations are below 1 billion m³

At the low end, Kuwait is reported at 0.0 billion m³. Bahrain records 0.004, Naoero 0.01, St. Kitts and Nevis 0.024, Maldives 0.03, Malta 0.0505, Antigua and Barbuda 0.052, Qatar 0.056, and Barbados 0.08. The United Arab Emirates is at 0.15 billion m³.

Kuwait’s zero is a published numeric observation, not a missing value, so it is preserved. It should not be interpreted as meaning that the country has no water supply of any kind. The indicator covers renewable internal freshwater only and does not capture desalination, imported water, reuse, or nonrenewable groundwater.

Country size and hydroclimate both matter

Because this is an absolute volume measure, large countries with extensive river systems, high precipitation, or substantial groundwater recharge can rank high. Small or arid economies can rank low. But no single factor explains the ranking: area, precipitation, evapotranspiration, topography, geology, and hydrology all contribute.

The same resource volume can have very different implications depending on population and demand. A more complete water-availability assessment would combine this indicator with renewable resources per capita, freshwater withdrawals, water stress, storage, and rainfall variability.

Internal resources are different from external inflows

The indicator emphasizes water generated within a country’s borders. It is therefore distinct from external river inflows crossing a border. Economies that depend heavily on transboundary rivers can look much smaller on an internal-resource measure than on a measure that includes external renewable water.

A large internal total also does not guarantee that water is close to population centers or available throughout the year. Geographic distribution, seasonality, infrastructure, water quality, and access all affect the practical usefulness of the resource.

Complete 2022 frame of 217 economies and territories

The table below lists all 217 rows in the 2022 frame. The 36 rows without a source value are marked ‘No value’. Missing observations are not replaced with zero or with values from an earlier year.

How to interpret the data

First, this is an absolute renewable internal freshwater-resource volume, not water use. Second, a large total does not automatically imply high per-capita availability. Third, external transboundary inflows are a separate concept. Fourth, missing 2022 values should remain missing rather than being filled with zero or earlier observations.

Water-resource estimates can also reflect long-term hydrological conditions and methodological updates. Assessing current drought or water scarcity requires additional evidence on recent rainfall, storage, withdrawals, demand, and water stress.

Source and calculation

The source is World Bank World Development Indicators ER.H2O.INTR.K3, Renewable internal freshwater resources, total (billion cubic meters). The mean, median, quartiles, resource bands, and rankings are calculated from the 181 numeric observations in the 2022 same-year frame.

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