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September 11, 2026
The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has launched its “State of Global Water Resources 2025” report, a comprehensive science-based annual assessment of the hydrological cycle and extreme events in 2025 and over the past five years.
The report finds that rivers across the globe in 2025 had one of the driest years in more than three decades. It shows a continuation of the long-term decline in Earth’s freshwater storage and of glacier retreat, while the water cycle has become more erratic and unpredictable, swinging between too little or too much. The past seven years have seen the fewest rivers with “normal” flows since 1991.
Terrestrial water storage has been in decline since the mid-2010s, while 2025 marked the fourth consecutive year with widespread glacier loss across all regions. Asia and Africa together accounted for at least half of all recorded water-related extreme events and more than 80 per cent of reported associated deaths over the past five years.
Water data availability has improved, but important gaps remain. Africa and Asia are still among the least represented regions in terms of hydrological observations in the report, even though they are most affected by extremes.
The annual State of Global Water Resources report provides a comprehensive quantitative overview of global water resources, with a focus on hydrological variability and trends.
Explore more findings and download the full report here.