Pakistan: Getting More from Water

Water security describes the social, economic, and environmental outcomes—beneficial and detrimental—from how water is managed and used. Assessing these outcomes indicates that Pakistan is not water secure. Pakistan is well endowed with water—only 16 countries have more water—but because Pakistan is the world’s sixth most populous country, water availability per person is comparatively low. Fewer than 10 percent of the global population lives in countries with less water per person. Water scarcity is challenging but does not define a country’s economic destiny. There are 32 countries with less water per person than Pakistan; across these countries the average per capita gross domestic product (GDP) is 10 times that of Pakistan. Only six of these 32 water scarce countries are poorer than Pakistan—all African nations with little irrigation investment and a heavy reliance on traditional rainfed agriculture.