The Guardian ·
2025 was among driest years on record for world’s rivers, study finds
Analysis of global resources reveals depletion in world’s water savings bank to 42% below normal levels last year
Rivers across the world experienced one of their driest years in more than three decades in 2025, a comprehensive study of global water resources has found.
The assessment of the global water cycle by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) reveals a depletion in the world’s water savings bank: the amount of freshwater held on or under the ground, including groundwater, lakes, rivers, snow, ice moisture in the soil and inside plants and trees, was 42% below normal across the world last year.
The impacts of the climate crisis on extreme weather and the creation of so-called weather whiplash events are driving a more erratic and unpredictable water cycle. From melting glaciers to extreme droughts and flash flooding, the world’s rivers are swinging between having too much and too little water.
