Uzbekistan included in the list of countries with high water shortages

Uzbekistan is on the 25th place in the list of countries where water shortages are observed. This is stated in the report of the World Resources Institute (WRI).

The list of countries in which problems with drinking water are already observed or may arise in the near future include 164 states.

According to the study, Uzbekistan is placed in the category “High Baseline Water Stress”, which along with the republic include such countries as Kyrgyzstan, Belgium, Spain, Portugal, Armenia, Turkey, Italy and others.

New data from WRI’s Aqueduct tools reveal that 17 countries – home to one-quarter of the world’s population—face “extremely high” levels of baseline water stress, where irrigated agriculture, industries and municipalities withdraw more than 80% of their available supply on average every year. Forty-four countries, home to one-third of the world, face “high” levels of stress, where on average more than 40% of available supply is withdrawn every year.

Twelve out of the seventeen most water-stressed countries are in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). The region is hot and dry, so water supply is low to begin with, but growing demands have pushed countries further into extreme stress. Climate change is set to complicate matters further: The World Bank found that this region has the greatest expected economic losses from climate-related water scarcity, estimated at 6-14% of GDP by 2050.