More information

Data sources:

Renewable freshwater resources provided by the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources of the Republic of Azerbaijan

Note: Data in excel table was provided by the MENR to the European Environment Agency under the ENI SEIS II East Project.

Water abstraction by economic activities provided by the State Statistical Committee of the Republic of Azerbaijan.

Annual renewable freshwater resources on average is around 38 070 hm³ (2000-2017), which corresponds to 2 999.3 m³/capita in Azerbaijan.

However, due to the high water demand of the agriculture and electricty sectors, Azerbaijan abstracts more than 30 % of its total renewable freshwater resources every year. This level of pressure exposes Azerbaijan to severe water stress conditions almost every year. The long-term average WEI remains above 30.5 %, while water exploitation has been constantly increasing in recent years (WEI = 41.2 % in 2017) due to a substantial decrease in renewable water resources (20 % reduction from 2000 to 2017) combined with an increase in water abstraction (10.3 % for the same period).

The WEI illustrates the level of the pressure from water abstraction on renewable water resources. Renewable water resources, overall, are under the control of climate conditions. In particular, they are affected by precipitation and actual evapotranspiration. During wet years (high precipitation and low actual evapotranspiration), the WEI would be relatively lower, while in dry years, even though the water abstraction remains at the same level, the WEI would be higher.

According to the estimated WEI, Azerbaijan has been living under water stress conditions. On the other hand, it should be noted that seasonal and regional water stress conditions across the country fluctuate considerably compared with the annual index.

Is water abstraction decreasing?