Libya
Capital: Tripoli · Upper middle income · Pop. 7.4 million
Source: World Bank Open Data (WHO/UNICEF JMP & FAO AQUASTAT)
Sanitation tracks closely: 21.75% use safely managed sanitation services and 88.5% have at least a basic service (2024).
Libya has about 97 cubic meters of renewable internal freshwater per person each year — below the ~1,000 m³ threshold widely used to define water scarcity. It withdraws the equivalent of 817% of those internal resources annually (extreme (over-extraction) water stress), meaning it relies on rivers from outside its borders, desalination, or drawing down stored reserves.
Agriculture accounts for about 83% of Libya's water withdrawals, the rest going to households and industry.
Common questions
How many people in Libya have safe drinking water?
Comprehensive safely-managed drinking-water data is not available for Libya; basic-service estimates may exist.
Does Libya have enough freshwater?
Libya has roughly 97 m³ of renewable internal freshwater per person per year, and uses about 817% of it annually (extreme (over-extraction) stress).