Excessive Water Use 'Threatening Business' in Major Economies

The Water Stress Index calculates the water stress of more than 168 countries by evaluating renewable supplies of water from precipitation, streams and rivers against domestic, industrial and agricultural use.

The arid Middle East and North Africa region is the most at-risk region in the index, with Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, Libya, Djibouti, UAE, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Oman and Egypt categorized as the 10 most water-stressed countries, listed in order of risk.

However, the widespread use of irrigation for agriculture, combined with increasing domestic and industrial water demand in India (ranked 34^th in the index), China (50) and the U.S. (61) means that those economies' water resources are coming under increasing pressure - and this may place more of an impact on the wider world, Maplecroft says.

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