Morocco and Algeria are running short of water, but not at all in the same way

According to the latest comparable data from the World Bank, drawn from the FAO’s AQUASTAT database, internal renewable freshwater resources stood at approximately 777 cubic meters per capita in Morocco in 2022, compared with just 247 cubic meters in Algeria.

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The gap is even more striking when looking at the water stress indicator. It stood at 50.75% in Morocco, compared with 144.81% in Algeria.

In Algeria, water stress exceeds 100%

A rate above 100% does not mean that Algeria is consuming water that does not exist. The indicator compares withdrawals with available renewable resources, after taking ecosystem needs into account. It can exceed 100% when a country draws, in particular, on non-renewable groundwater or withdraws more than is naturally replenished.

According to the classification used by UN-Water, Algeria is therefore at a critical level of water stress.

Morocco faces a different vulnerability. World Bank and FAO data show that agriculture accounted for 88% of the country’s freshwater withdrawals in 2022, compared with 67% in Algeria.

Another indicator sums up the gap between the two neighbors: annual freshwater withdrawals amounted to 36% of Morocco’s internal renewable resources, compared with 92% in Algeria.

The two countries are therefore not facing exactly the same problem. Algeria starts with a much lower renewable resource per capita and places far greater pressure on this natural stock. In Morocco, the resource is greater, but agriculture alone absorbs the vast majority of the water withdrawn.

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The same regional shortage, but two different vulnerabilities: in Algeria, the problem begins with the extreme scarcity of the resource; in Morocco, it is more concentrated on how the available water is consumed.