EarthTrends (http://earthtrends.wri.org) Searchable Database Results Provided by the World Resources Institute (http://www.wri.org) "Water Resources and Freshwater Ecosystems -- Internal Renewable Water Resources (IRWR): Groundwater recharge, volume" "Units: Cubic kilometers (km^3)" ,,1958-2007, World "World {1}","",11140.7, ,,1958-2007, Region/Classification "Asia (excluding Middle East)","",2473.9, "Central America & Caribbean","",359.6, "Europe","",1318.9, "Middle East & North Africa","",148.0, "North America","",1670.0, "Oceania","",72.0, "South America","",3693.0, "Sub-Saharan Africa","",1405.3, "Developed Countries","",3174.0, "Developing Countries","",7984.7, "High Income Countries","",2217.1, "Low Income Countries","",2146.9, "Middle Income Countries","",6776.7, ,,1958-2007, Country "Albania","ALB",6.2, "Algeria","DZA",1.5, "Angola","AGO",58.0, "Argentina","ARG",128.0, "Armenia","ARM",4.2, "Australia","AUS",72.0, "Austria","AUT",6.0, "Azerbaijan","AZE",6.5, "Bahrain","BHR",0.0, "Bangladesh","BGD",21.1, "Barbados","BRB",0.1, "Belarus","BLR",18.0, "Belgium","BEL",0.9, "Belgium/Luxembourg","",1.0, "Benin","BEN",1.8, "Bolivia","BOL",130.0, "Botswana","BWA",1.7, "Brazil","BRA",1874.0, "Brunei Darussalam","BRN",0.1, "Bulgaria","BGR",6.4, "Burkina Faso","BFA",9.5, "Burundi","BDI",7.5, "Cambodia","KHM",17.6, "Cameroon","CMR",100.0, "Canada","CAN",370.0, "Cape Verde","CPV",0.1, "Côte d'Ivoire","CIV",37.8, "Central African Rep","CAF",56.0, "Chad","TCD",11.5, "Chile","CHL",140.0, "China","CHN",828.8, "Colombia","COL",510.0, "Comoros","COM",1.0, "Congo","COG",120.0, "Congo, Dem Rep","COD",421.0, "Costa Rica","CRI",37.3, "Croatia","HRV",11.0, "Cuba","CUB",6.5, "Cyprus","CYP",0.4, "Czech Rep","CZE",1.4, "Denmark","DNK",4.3, "Djibouti","DJI",0.0, "Dominican Rep","DOM",11.7, "Ecuador","ECU",134.0, "Egypt","EGY",1.3, "El Salvador","SLV",6.2, "Equatorial Guinea","GNQ",10.0, "Eritrea","ERI",0.5, "Estonia","EST",4.0, "Ethiopia","ETH",20.0, "Finland","FIN",2.2, "France","FRA",100.0, "Gabon","GAB",62.0, "Gambia","GMB",0.5, "Gaza Strip","",0.0, "Georgia","GEO",17.2, "Germany","DEU",45.7, "Ghana","GHA",26.3, "Greece","GRC",10.3, "Guatemala","GTM",33.7, "Guinea","GIN",38.0, "Guinea-Bissau","GNB",14.0, "Guyana","GUY",103.0, "Haiti","HTI",2.2, "Honduras","HND",39.0, "Hungary","HUN",6.0, "Iceland","ISL",24.0, "India","IND",418.5, "Indonesia","IDN",455.0, "Iran, Islamic Rep","IRN",49.3, "Iraq","IRQ",1.2, "Ireland","IRL",10.8, "Israel","ISR",0.5, "Italy","ITA",43.0, "Jamaica","JAM",3.9, "Japan","JPN",27.0, "Jordan","JOR",0.5, "Kazakhstan","KAZ",6.1, "Kenya","KEN",3.5, "Korea, Dem People's Rep","PRK",13.0, "Korea, Rep","KOR",13.3, "Kuwait","KWT",0.0, "Kyrgyzstan","KGZ",13.6, "Lao People's Dem Rep","LAO",37.9, "Latvia","LVA",2.2, "Lebanon","LBN",3.2, "Lesotho","LSO",0.5, "Liberia","LBR",45.0, "Libyan Arab Jamahiriya","LBY",0.5, "Lithuania","LTU",1.2, "Luxembourg","LUX",0.1, "Madagascar","MDG",55.0, "Malawi","MWI",2.5, "Malaysia","MYS",64.0, "Maldives","MDV",0.0, "Mali","MLI",20.0, "Malta","MLT",0.1, "Mauritania","MRT",0.3, "Mauritius","MUS",0.9, "Mexico","MEX",139.0, "Moldova, Rep","MDA",0.4, "Mongolia","MNG",6.1, "Morocco","MAR",10.0, "Mozambique","MOZ",17.0, "Myanmar","MMR",156.0, "Namibia","NAM",2.1, "Nepal","NPL",20.0, "Netherlands","NLD",4.5, "Nicaragua","NIC",59.0, "Niger","NER",2.5, "Nigeria","NGA",87.0, "Norway","NOR",96.0, "Oman","OMN",1.0, "Pakistan","PAK",55.0, "Panama","PAN",21.0, "Paraguay","PRY",41.0, "Peru","PER",303.0, "Philippines","PHL",180.0, "Poland","POL",12.5, "Portugal","PRT",4.0, "Qatar","QAT",0.1, "Réunion","REU",2.8, "Romania","ROU",8.3, "Russian Federation","RUS",788.0, "Rwanda","RWA",7.0, "Saint Kitts and Nevis","KNA",0.0, "Saudi Arabia","SAU",2.2, "Senegal","SEN",3.5, "Serbia and Montenegro","YUG",3.0, "Sierra Leone","SLE",25.0, "Slovakia","SVK",1.7, "Slovenia","SVN",13.5, "Somalia","SOM",3.3, "South Africa","ZAF",4.8, "Spain","ESP",29.9, "Sri Lanka","LKA",7.8, "Sudan","SDN",7.0, "Suriname","SUR",80.0, "Swaziland","SWZ",0.7, "Sweden","SWE",20.0, "Switzerland","CHE",2.5, "Syrian Arab Rep","SYR",4.2, "Tajikistan","TJK",6.0, "Tanzania","TZA",30.0, "Thailand","THA",41.9, "Togo","TGO",5.7, "Tunisia","TUN",1.5, "Turkey","TUR",69.0, "Turkmenistan","TKM",0.4, "Uganda","UGA",29.0, "Ukraine","UKR",20.0, "United Arab Emirates","ARE",0.1, "United Kingdom","GBR",9.8, "United States {2}","USA",1300.0, "Uruguay","URY",23.0, "Uzbekistan","UZB",8.8, "Venezuela","VEN",227.0, "Viet Nam","VNM",48.0, "Yemen","YEM",1.5, "Zambia","ZMB",47.0, "Zimbabwe","ZWE",6.0, Footnotes "1 -- World" "Value was calculated by WRI" "2 -- United States" "Not including Alaska and Hawaii" Source "Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) Land and Water Development Division. 2007. AQUASTAT online database. Rome: FAO. Available on-line at http://www.fao.org/nr/water/aquastat/data/query/index.html. " Technical Notes "Definition:" "Groundwater Recharge is the total volume of water entering underground sources of water (typically aquifers) within a country's borders from endogenous (internal) precipitation and surface water flow. Natural incoming flows originating from outside a country's borders are not included in the total. " "" "Years Covered and Frequency of Update:" "Water resources data are typically not available in a time series. Data were actually collected over a period of 15 to 25 years and have been compiled since 2003 by the AQUASTAT global information system of water and agriculture. The current AQUASTAT database provides data per 5-year period if available. Data are presented by WRI as a single value for 1960-2005 because, for this variable, AQUASTAT lists only one number for each country over the entire time period covered by the database." "" "The AQUASTAT database is updated as new data become available, or when the FAO conducts special regional studies. " "" "Methodology:" "Groundwater resources are typically estimated by measuring rainfall and the base flow of rivers. In arid, semi-arid, and karstic areas (areas containing a porous karst limestone rock matrix) surface water flow and precipitation recharge groundwater by infiltrating through the soil during floods. This recharge is either directly measured or inferred by characteristics of the aquifers and piezometric levels. In arid and semi-arid countries, all groundwater flow is considered to overlap with surface base flow. In humid areas, groundwater is estimated to be equal to the base flow of rivers. Groundwater infiltration tends to be overestimated in arid areas and underestimated in humid areas." "" "The FAO collects its data for AQUASTAT from a number of sources; preferred data comes from the literature or national and sub-national surveys and reports. In most cases, a critical analysis of the information is necessary to ensure consistency between the different data collected for a given country. When possible, cross-checking of information between countries was used to improve assessment in countries where information was limited. " "" "For more information please see the following publication: Review of World Water Resources by Country: Water Reports 23. Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations. Rome: 2003." "" "Data Reliability:" "Although AQUASTAT represents the most complete and careful compilation of water resource statistics to date, freshwater data are generally of poor quality. Information sources are numerous but rarely complete. Access to information on water resources is still sometimes restricted for reasons related to sensitivity at the regional level. Despite the FAO's rigorous guidelines for calculating final AQUASTAT variable values, the accuracy and reliability of the original information provided varies greatly among regions, countries, and categories of information, as does the year in which the information was gathered. As a result, no consistency can be ensured at the regional level on the duration and dates of the period of reference. Cross-country comparisons should therefore be made with caution." "" "For more information, please refer to the original data source or to the 2003 print publication Review of World Water Resources by Country."