The world has entered a dangerous phase of ‘global water bankruptcy’ as United Nations report highlight. In other words, many countries are consuming water resources like money they do not have, leaving little or nothing for the future. As a result, the world faces urgent risks to drinking water, agriculture, energy production, and the stability of cities worldwide.
Water supports all life. People rely on it to drink, grow food, produce energy, and run cities. However, across the world, human activity drains, pollutes, and destroys rivers, lakes, wetlands, and underground water reserves. The report makes it clear that this problem no longer affects only a few dry regions. Instead, it has grown into a global crisis that directly or indirectly impacts billions of people.
The report is available through the UN University’s Institute for Water, Environment and Health and highlights how deep and widespread the crisis has become.
What “global water bankruptcy” really means
Humans cause global water bankruptcy when they take more water from nature than it can naturally replace each year. Rain, snow, and melting ice normally refill rivers, soils, and lakes. Aquifers store underground water, but they can take hundreds or even thousands of years to recharge. When humans break this balance year after year, water systems start to fail.
According to the report, many societies have been using water far beyond safe limits for decades. Rivers are drying up before they reach the sea. Wetlands that once stored water and supported wildlife have been drained. Underground water reserves are collapsing because of excessive pumping. As a result, large parts of the world are now classified as water-insecure or critically water-insecure.
The scale of the problem is enormous. Around 75% of the global population lives in countries facing serious water insecurity. About 2 billion people live in areas where the ground itself is sinking. This happens when underground water is removed and the empty spaces collapse, causing land subsidence. In some cities, the land is sinking by many centimeters every year, damaging buildings, roads, and water pipes.
The climate crisis is making this situation worse. Glaciers, which act like natural water banks, are melting. This reduces long-term water storage for millions of people. At the same time, weather patterns are becoming more extreme. Some regions face long droughts, followed by sudden floods. Water arrives in the wrong place, at the wrong time, and in unpredictable amounts. This makes water management much harder, even in countries that receive plenty of rainfall.
Rivers, lakes, cities, and food systems under pressure
The report shows that many of the world’s most important rivers are in trouble. In heavily populated river basins such as the Indus, Yellow, and Tigris-Euphrates, rivers now sometimes dry up before reaching the ocean. The Colorado River in the United States no longer reliably reaches the sea. In Australia, the Murray-Darling river system faces similar stress. These rivers support farms, cities, and ecosystems, yet they are being pushed beyond their limits.
Lakes are also shrinking at alarming rates. Since the early 1990s, about half of the world’s large lakes have reduced in size. This includes lakes in different parts of the world, from dry regions to areas that were once water-rich. Shrinking lakes affect drinking water supplies, local weather, fishing, and wildlife.
Cities are facing serious risks as well. Several major cities have experienced “day zero” situations, where water supplies came close to running out completely. These emergencies have already occurred in places like Chennai, Cape Town, São Paulo, and Tehran. As populations grow and water sources shrink or become polluted, such crises are becoming more common.
Food production depends heavily on water, which directly ties it to this crisis. Humans use about 70% of all freshwater for agriculture, yet farmers now try to grow more food with less and lower-quality water. The report shows that regions with declining or unstable water storage produce more than half of the world’s food. As a result, when water shortages strike major farming areas, they quickly disrupt food prices and availability far beyond national borders.
For example, water stress in South Asia affects rice production, which in turn impacts global food markets. Even countries with plenty of rain are not safe. Nations that depend on imported food are indirectly relying on the water resources of other countries. When those water systems fail, the effects travel through global supply chains.
Pollution, groundwater collapse, and rising conflict
Overuse is only part of the problem. Pollution is reducing the amount of usable water worldwide. Industrial waste, agricultural chemicals, and untreated sewage contaminate rivers and lakes. Once polluted, water often becomes too expensive or difficult to clean for safe use. This further shrinks the available supply.
The destruction of natural water storage is another major issue. Wetlands act like sponges, holding water during wet periods and releasing it during dry times. Over the past 50 years, wetlands covering an area roughly the size of the European Union have disappeared. Their loss reduces water security and increases flood risks.
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Excessive groundwater extraction leaves visible scars on the landscape. In several regions, the removal of underground water has created thousands of sinkholes. Farmers see entire plains dotted with these sudden collapses. Major cities across Asia, Africa, the Middle East, and the Americas are sinking as people drain their aquifers.
As water becomes scarce, tensions rise. The report notes a sharp increase in water-related conflicts. In 2010, about 20 such conflicts were recorded worldwide. By 2024, that number had risen to more than 400. Disputes occur between communities, regions, and even countries that share rivers or depend on the same water sources.
Water scarcity also contributes to displacement. When farming becomes impossible or cities run out of water, people are forced to move. This adds pressure to other regions and increases the risk of social unrest. The report describes water bankruptcy as a growing driver of fragility, instability, and conflict around the world.
The UN report calls for a fundamental reset in how water is managed. It explains that humanity cannot restore vanished glaciers or fully recover collapsed aquifers. However, it stresses that further losses can still be prevented by reducing overuse, cutting pollution, and aligning water use with the limits of nature. The facts presented make clear that global water bankruptcy is not a distant threat but a present reality shaping lives, food systems, cities, and stability across the planet.
