Low & middle income: Water productivity, total (constant 2015 US$ GDP per cubic meter of total freshwater withdrawal)

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2022, Low & middle income's water productivity, total (constant 2015 US$ GDP per cubic meter of total freshwater withdrawal) rose US$0.44 on 2021 (from US$11.33 to US$11.76).

Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1992 to 2021), the average change was +US$0.28 and a typical year strayed about US$0.19 from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.9 standard deviations above that average, so it was an ordinary year: it sits within the range of normal year-to-year movement.

On record, the biggest yearly rise was US$0.89 in 2021 and the biggest yearly fall was US$14.5 in 1975. The numbers show how large and when, not why; for the cause, look at what happened in that country in those years.

From 2013 to 2022 the straight-line trend is upward, about US$0.39 a year. A straight line explains 98% of the movement over 10 observed years.

Worked out from the yearly values above. How the checks work: standard deviation, z-scores and straight-line trends.

A straight-line projection, tested first

Extending that straight line gives about US$12.73 for 2025. We show this only because the same method, fitted on earlier years, predicted 2020 to 2022 better than "no change" would have: its average miss was US$0.24, against US$0.73 for assuming no change. Treat it as a continuation of the recent pattern, not a forecast of events: it cannot see a recession, a policy change or a revision to the data.

See how a linear trend forecast works and the guide on forecasting without fooling yourself.

How it compares

See how every economy compares in the full ranking.

What this measures

Water productivity is calculated as GDP in constant prices divided by annual total water withdrawal.

Limitations: A common perception is that most of the available freshwater resources are visible (on the surfaces of lakes, reservoirs and rivers). However, this visible water represents only a tiny fraction of global freshwater resources, as most of it is stored in aquifers, with the largest stocks stored in solid form in the Antarctic and in Greenland's ice cap. The data on freshwater resources are based on estimates of runoff into rivers and recharge of groundwater. These estimates are based on different sources and refer to different years, so cross-country comparisons should be made with caution.

Regional and income-group figures are computed by the World Bank as a weighted average.

All 53 values

Water productivity, total (constant 2015 US$ GDP per cubic meter of total freshwater withdrawal) in nearby economies

• Afghanistan — US$0.76 (2022)
• Algeria — US$20.08 (2022)
• Bahrain — US$248.06 (2022)
• Djibouti — US$177.14 (2022)
• Egypt, Arab Rep. — US$5.86 (2022)
• Iran, Islamic Rep. — US$5.26 (2022)
• Iraq — US$4.58 (2022)

More environment data for Low & middle income

• Population in the largest city (% of urban population) — 15.28% (2025)
• Population in urban agglomerations of more than 1 million (% of total population) — 22.83% (2025)
• Rural population — 3.18 billion (2025)
• Rural population (% of total population) — 46.88% (2025)
• Urban population — 3.61 billion (2025)
• Urban population (% of total population) — 53.12% (2025)
• Fossil fuel energy consumption (% of total) — 80.27% (2024)
• Aquaculture production (metric tons) — 132.05 million (2024)
• Capture fisheries production (metric tons)

Reading data like this

• Where to find free public data, and how to check it before you trust it — 2 min read
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• Real change or random noise? A plain guide to reading your numbers — 2 min read

Questions people ask

What is Low & middle income's water productivity, total (constant 2015 US$ GDP per cubic meter of total freshwater withdrawal)?

US$11.76 in 2022, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

Source

World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator ER.GDP.FWTL.M3.KD, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: AQUASTAT - FAO's Global Information System on Water and Agriculture, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), publisher: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO); World Bank GDP estimates, World Bank (WB), publisher: World Bank (WB); OECD GDP estimates, Org… Figures are fetched from the World Bank API and refreshed monthly; see the series on data.worldbank.org. The full definition and method are in the World Bank's metadata glossary. Comparisons use the same World Bank release.

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