# Desalination by country
Desalination by country surveys how national and regional water-supply systems rely on removing salt from seawater and brackish water, which countries hold the largest installed capacity, and how programs differ between municipal systems in arid Gulf states, drought-driven plants in Australia, agriculture-oriented schemes in Spain and targeted coastal additions in California and North Africa. National programs are shaped by three drivers: freshwater scarcity, coastal access to seawater, and the ability to pay the energy bill.
| Key fact | Figure |
|---|---|
| Global operational capacity | ~69.3 million m³/day across ~17,910 plants [1](https://preview-www.nature.com/articles/s41545-026-00554-x) |
| Middle East share of operational capacity | 28.96 million m³/day, 41.8% (4,897 plants) [1](https://preview-www.nature.com/articles/s41545-026-00554-x) |
| Top five countries, 2025 online capacity | Saudi Arabia 17.3, China 14.0, US 11.0, UAE 9.1, Spain 5.0 million m³/day [2](https://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/099120325085522367/pdf/P510972-95cd0c55-9926-4bca-a6fe-422af95faaff.pdf) |
| Gulf production, 2023 | 7.2 billion m³ total; Saudi 3.0, UAE 1.9, Kuwait 0.8, Qatar 0.7, Oman 0.5, Bahrain 0.3 [3](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/3/12/how-much-of-the-gulfs-water-comes-from-desalination-plants) |
| Desalination dependence | Qatar up to 99% of drinking water; Oman 86%; Saudi desalination supplies about 70% of Saudi Arabia's potable (domestic) water supply (50% of municipal water in 2012) [4](https://www.un.org/depts/los/global_reporting/WOA_RPROC/Chapter_28.pdf) • [5](https://www.ifri.org/sites/default/files/migrated_files/documents/atoms/files/eyl-mazzega_cassignol_desalination_us_2022.pdf) • [12](https://www.ndmc.gov.sa/investorsrelations/Documents/Khuzama%D9%80Final.pdf) |
| Water cost trend | US$2.5–5.0/m³ in the 1980s to below US$1.0 average; best late-2010s/early-2020s projects US$0.4–0.5/m³ [2](https://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/099120325085522367/pdf/P510972-95cd0c55-9926-4bca-a6fe-422af95faaff.pdf) |
| California production, 2020 | 150,000 acre-feet of potable desalinated water at 46 active facilities; Carlsbad up to 50 million gallons/day [6](https://water.ca.gov/-/media/DWR-Website/Web-Pages/Programs/California-Water-Plan/Docs/RMS/2025/Desalination-RMS---2025.pdf) |
## Introduction and global map
Roughly 17,910 desalination plants are operational worldwide, collectively producing 69.3 million m³/day; counting contracted capacity the total reaches 128 million m³/day, and the Middle East holds 46.9% of contracted and 41.8% of operational capacity (60.1 and 28.96 million m³/day respectively) [1](https://preview-www.nature.com/articles/s41545-026-00554-x). More than 21,000 seawater desalination plants were in operation in 2022, almost twice as many as a decade earlier, with sector capacity growing 6–12% per year [5](https://www.ifri.org/sites/default/files/migrated_files/documents/atoms/files/eyl-mazzega_cassignol_desalination_us_2022.pdf). An aggregated listing counts over 16,000 plants across 177 countries, many of them micro plants [7](https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/desalination-by-country).
The ranking has shifted. A 2016 United Nations assessment put Saudi Arabia first at over 10 million m³/day, followed by the United States (over 8 million), the UAE (about 7 million), and Spain (about 5 million) [4](https://www.un.org/depts/los/global_reporting/WOA_RPROC/Chapter_28.pdf). By 2025, GWI DesalData lists Saudi Arabia at 17.3 million m³/day of online capacity, China second at 14.0, the United States at 11.0, the UAE at 9.1, and Spain at 5.0 [2](https://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/099120325085522367/pdf/P510972-95cd0c55-9926-4bca-a6fe-422af95faaff.pdf). China has risen from outside the 2016 top four to second place.
## The Gulf states
The Middle East holds 41.8% of global operational desalination capacity (28.96 million m³/day), and GCC countries including Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Kuwait, and Bahrain heavily subsidize desalination [1](https://preview-www.nature.com/articles/s41545-026-00554-x). In 2023 the six [Gulf Cooperation Council](https://www.edgepedia.org/gulf-cooperation-council) states produced 7.2 billion m³ of freshwater by desalination, about 122 m³ (334 liters) per capita per year [3](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/3/12/how-much-of-the-gulfs-water-comes-from-desalination-plants). Production that year was 3.0 billion m³ in Saudi Arabia, 1.9 billion in the UAE, 0.8 billion in Kuwait, 0.7 billion in Qatar, 0.5 billion in Oman, and 0.3 billion in Bahrain [3](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/3/12/how-much-of-the-gulfs-water-comes-from-desalination-plants).
Qatar draws as much as 99% of its drinking water from desalination, and in Saudi Arabia 50% of municipal water supplies were desalinated as of 2012, when deliveries reached 955,000 megalitres per year [4](https://www.un.org/depts/los/global_reporting/WOA_RPROC/Chapter_28.pdf). A 2022 analysis reports desalination supplying 90% in one Gulf state, 86% in Oman, and 70% in Saudi Arabia [5](https://www.ifri.org/sites/default/files/migrated_files/documents/atoms/files/eyl-mazzega_cassignol_desalination_us_2022.pdf); the two Saudi figures reflect different bases (all water supply versus municipal supplies in 2012) and different dates, and both are reported here without reconciliation. The UAE has a more mixed portfolio, with 41% of its water from desalination, 46% from groundwater, and the remainder from rainwater and treated wastewater, totalling 4.8 billion m³ annually for 11.5 million inhabitants [3](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/3/12/how-much-of-the-gulfs-water-comes-from-desalination-plants).
**Subsidy and financing models** underpin the Gulf programs. GCC countries including Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Kuwait, and Bahrain heavily subsidize desalination, and both the UAE and Saudi Arabia also use subsidies and public-private partnerships to attract investment and reduce reliance on groundwater; strategic plans aim to diversify water sources [1](https://preview-www.nature.com/articles/s41545-026-00554-x). Second-tier regional producers include a band of countries producing between 3.6 and 1.2 million m³/day (Kuwait, Qatar, Israel, Oman, Egypt, Iran, and Bahrain), with Iraq at 0.6 and Jordan at 0.3 million m³/day [8](https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/water/articles/10.3389/frwa.2025.1672360/full).
Improvements in membrane technology have made desalination more energy efficient and more economically and politically viable for large-scale deployment across the region [8](https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/water/articles/10.3389/frwa.2025.1672360/full).
## Israel
The country was forced to rethink its water strategy in the early 2000s because of the unprecedented drying of Lake Tiberias (the [Sea of Galilee](https://www.edgepedia.org/sea-of-galilee)) [5](https://www.ifri.org/sites/default/files/migrated_files/documents/atoms/files/eyl-mazzega_cassignol_desalination_us_2022.pdf). Between 2005 and 2016 the government and its Water Authority oversaw emergency plant construction, starting with Ashkelon in the south, initially providing 50 million m³/year and later expanded to 118 million m³ [5](https://www.ifri.org/sites/default/files/migrated_files/documents/atoms/files/eyl-mazzega_cassignol_desalination_us_2022.pdf).
By end-2022, several medium-sized desalination plants operated in the country, providing a large share of Israel's drinking water, roughly 60% of total drinking water consumption; a Sorek expansion and a pipeline top up the Sea of Galilee [5](https://www.ifri.org/sites/default/files/migrated_files/documents/atoms/files/eyl-mazzega_cassignol_desalination_us_2022.pdf).[11](https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202407.0018.v1)
## Australia and Spain: drought and agriculture models
**Australia** built large seawater plants during the [Millennium Drought](https://www.edgepedia.org/millennium-drought). A 144 megalitre/day plant has operated near Perth since 2006, and an Adelaide plant was built at a cost of A$1,500 million with a capacity of 280 megalitres/day [4](https://www.un.org/depts/los/global_reporting/WOA_RPROC/Chapter_28.pdf). Once drought broke, operating costs and the recovery of other sources pushed most of the fleet into standby: the Adelaide plant was placed on stand-by by 2013 (ANAO, 2013), and major plants built for Brisbane, Melbourne, and Sydney were likewise placed in standby because of the recovery of other supply sources [4](https://www.un.org/depts/los/global_reporting/WOA_RPROC/Chapter_28.pdf). Perth's plant, operating since 2006, is the exception to the idle pattern.
**Spain** took a different route: desalination as a substitute for inter-basin water transfers and as irrigation supply for agriculture in the south-east, not primarily for municipal systems. The 2001 National Hydrologic Plan proposed Ebro river transfers, but the final cost of transferred water proved higher than initial expectations (0.39 versus 0.91 EUR/m³), and in 2005 the plan was replaced by a strategy based on desalination and reuse [9](https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0375/16/4/113). Under the earlier plan, 51 Mediterranean desalination plants were approved at an estimated US$3 billion; by 2013, 27 had been built at about US$2.2 billion, and the recession starting in 2008 reduced water demand so much that many plants stood idle or worked well below planned capacity [4](https://www.un.org/depts/los/global_reporting/WOA_RPROC/Chapter_28.pdf).
Spain remains the European Union's leading membrane-desalination adopter, with roughly 5.0 million m³/day of installed capacity in 2024–2026 and about 54 large seawater reverse osmosis plants (each above 10,000 m³/day, together about 77% of total capacity) concentrated along the Mediterranean arc and islands; major plants include Campo de Dalías (100,000 m³/day), [Costa del Sol](https://www.edgepedia.org/costa-del-sol) (60,000 m³/day), and Marina Baja (50,000 m³/day) [9](https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0375/16/4/113). The 2023–2024 Catalonian drought tested the system under stress: Barcelona's El Prat seawater plant covered about one-third of metropolitan demand at the drought peak, while emergency programs expanded capacity (Tordera II) and deployed modular units [9](https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0375/16/4/113).
The contrast with the Gulf is structural. Gulf plants serve near-total municipal dependence at 90–99% in the most exposed states, financed through subsidies [1](https://preview-www.nature.com/articles/s41545-026-00554-x) • [5](https://www.ifri.org/sites/default/files/migrated_files/documents/atoms/files/eyl-mazzega_cassignol_desalination_us_2022.pdf). Spain's plants face cost-competitive demand from agriculture, run against cheaper alternatives when rainfall recovers, and have repeatedly idled capacity as a result [4](https://www.un.org/depts/los/global_reporting/WOA_RPROC/Chapter_28.pdf).
## North America and emerging programs
In 2020 the state had 51 identified desalination facilities and produced 150,000 acre-feet of desalinated potable water at 46 active facilities, comprising 45 dedicated potable facilities plus potable water produced for use at the [Diablo Canyon Power Plant](https://www.edgepedia.org/diablo-canyon-power-plant) [6](https://water.ca.gov/-/media/DWR-Website/Web-Pages/Programs/California-Water-Plan/Docs/RMS/2025/Desalination-RMS---2025.pdf). The single large seawater plant is the Claude "Bud" Lewis [Carlsbad Desalination Plant](https://www.edgepedia.org/carlsbad-desalination-plant), which delivers as much as 50 million gallons per day (56,000 acre-feet per year) of desalinated seawater to the [San Diego County Water Authority](https://www.edgepedia.org/san-diego-county-water-authority) [6](https://water.ca.gov/-/media/DWR-Website/Web-Pages/Programs/California-Water-Plan/Docs/RMS/2025/Desalination-RMS---2025.pdf). Growth drivers include Carlsbad's construction, brackish groundwater plant expansion in Southern California, technology efficiency gains, rising traditional supply costs, and drought and snowpack decline; brine is disposed of by blending with discharged municipal wastewater, distribution by ocean diffusers, and evaporation [6](https://water.ca.gov/-/media/DWR-Website/Web-Pages/Programs/California-Water-Plan/Docs/RMS/2025/Desalination-RMS---2025.pdf).
Nationally, the United States holds 11.0 million m³/day of online capacity in 2025 per GWI DesalData [2](https://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/099120325085522367/pdf/P510972-95cd0c55-9926-4bca-a6fe-422af95faaff.pdf). North America produces 11.9% of global desalinated water, driven largely by the USA, while [East Asia](https://www.edgepedia.org/east-asia) and the Pacific produce 18.4%, primarily due to China's 7.5% share; Saudi Arabia produces 10.1% and Kuwait 3.7% of the global total [10](https://idrawater.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/The-state-of-desalination-2019.pdf).
**North Africa** is expanding. Non-GCC desalination projects in the MENA region total 822,000 m³/day, making them the world's largest non-GCC desalination projects, and Libya and Tunisia have planned significant expansions by 2030, to 2 million m³/day and 630,000 m³/day respectively [2](https://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/099120325085522367/pdf/P510972-95cd0c55-9926-4bca-a6fe-422af95faaff.pdf). Egypt currently lists 917,000 m³/day of operational capacity across 8 plants[7](https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/desalination-by-country), though a 2025 academic survey places Egypt within the Middle East's 1.2–3.6 million m³/day production band.[8](https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/water/articles/10.3389/frwa.2025.1672360/full)
## References
1. Desalination and the Middle East: research, practices, implications, and prospects. npj Clean Water. https://preview-www.nature.com/articles/s41545-026-00554-x
2. Fresh Perspectives: Emerging Issues and Opportunities for Desalination in the Middle East and North Africa. World Bank, 2025. https://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/099120325085522367/pdf/P510972-95cd0c55-9926-4bca-a6fe-422af95faaff.pdf
3. How much of the Gulf's water comes from desalination plants? Al Jazeera, March 2026. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/3/12/how-much-of-the-gulfs-water-comes-from-desalination-plants
4. UN World Ocean Assessment, Chapter 2: Nature, location and magnitude of desalinization. https://www.un.org/depts/los/global_reporting/WOA_RPROC/Chapter_28.pdf
5. The Geopolitics of Seawater Desalination. IFRI/Policy Center for the New South, 2022. https://www.ifri.org/sites/default/files/migrated_files/documents/atoms/files/eyl-mazzega_cassignol_desalination_us_2022.pdf
6. Desalination (Brackish and Seawater) Resource Management Strategy. California Department of Water Resources, 2025. https://water.ca.gov/-/media/DWR-Website/Web-Pages/Programs/California-Water-Plan/Docs/RMS/2025/Desalination-RMS---2025.pdf
7. Desalination by Country 2026. World Population Review. https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/desalination-by-country
8. Evolution of desalination research and water production in the Middle East: a five-decade perspective. Frontiers in Water, 2025. https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/water/articles/10.3389/frwa.2025.1672360/full
9. The Role of Reverse Osmosis as an Essential Desalination Technology in Addressing Spain's Freshwater Deficits. Membranes (MDPI). https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0375/16/4/113
10. The state of desalination and brine production: A global outlook. IDRA. https://idrawater.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/The-state-of-desalination-2019.pdf
11. Kbt1kszkxxf (exa.ai). https://exa.ai/library/publication/kbt1kszkxxf
12. ndmc.gov.sa, https://www.ndmc.gov.sa/investorsrelations/Documents/Khuzama%D9%80Final.pdf
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Technology and the built world › Architecture, buildings, and civil works › Civil and water works › Water supply, sanitation, and flood control › Water and wastewater treatment › Desalination › Desalination by country and region*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 30, 2026 · Edited: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 11, 2026 · Last review: Sep 30, 2026*
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License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license