Global Thirst Crisis: Where in the world is safe water lacking?

Access to clean water is a basic human right, yet for hundreds of millions of people, it remains an unattainable luxury. While in some countries water is taken for granted, in others it is a daily struggle for survival. The statistics are striking: the list of leaders in the number of people without access to safe water includes both countries with massive populations and states where nearly half of the residents live in conditions of scarcity.

Despite the fact that India and China lead the list by the number of people (over 141 million combined), the percentage here is relatively low (4.5–5.9%). This indicates that the states have the resources, but the scale of the population is so vast that the infrastructure simply cannot keep up with the pace of urbanization. The problem here is not the lack of water as such, but its contamination by industrial waste. In the DR Congo, almost every second person (47.6%) does not have safe water. This is a consequence of decades of military conflict, corruption, and a complete lack of centralized networks. In such countries, the lack of water is not an inconvenience, but a direct threat of cholera and typhoid outbreaks. Bangladesh and Pakistan are characterized by the problem of “dirty water.” For example, in Bangladesh, a huge amount of groundwater is poisoned by natural arsenic or suffers from salinization due to rising ocean levels. People have water, but it is not safe. The lack of clean water means colossal losses for the economy. According to the UN, every dollar invested in clean water and sanitation brings from 4 to 43 dollars in profit by reducing healthcare costs and increasing labor productivity.