There is a new index for comparing levels of development between countries: the Water Poverty Index (WPI), which measures various aspects of the link between water and society, not just the amount of water available.
147 countries were compared by a group of experts and researchers, and the results were published by the Department of Economics, University of Keele, Great Britain.
According to this study, the 10 countries that have most water in the world are, in descending order: Finland (78 points), Canada, Iceland, Norway, Guyana, Suriname, Austria, Ireland, Sweden and Switzerland. And those at last in the standings, Haiti (35 points), Niger, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Malawi, Djibouti, Chad, Benin, Rwanda and Burundi.
"The WPI sees a clear link between poverty, social deprivation, environmental integrity, water availability and health," says Dr. Caroline Sullivan, who led an interdisciplinary team in the development of the IPA concept at the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology Wallingford, UK. The new index shows the relationship between water poverty and income poverty.
WPA assigns a value of 20 points as the best rating for each of its five categories. A country that meets the criteria in the five categories would have a score of 100.
| Country | Water resource | Access to water | Handling capacity | Use of water | Environmental indicators | WPI Index |
Argentina |
12.4 |
9.7 |
15.3 |
12.8 |
12.6 |
62.8 |
Belize |
14.9 |
9.5 |
15.9 |
8.3 |
10.4 |
59.0 |
Bolivia |
13.6 |
8.3 |
11.6 |
15.4 |
10.5 |
59.4 |
Brazil |
13.5 |
10.1 |
12.5 |
11.6 |
11.1 |
58.8 |
Chile |
13.1 |
16.2 |
13.8 |
14.9 |
12.5 |
70.5 |
Colombia |
12.6 |
12.9 |
12.9 |
15.8 |
11.0 |
65.3 |
Costa Rica |
12.5 |
13.7 |
15.2 |
14.2 |
10.2 |
65.7 |
Dominican Republic |
7.3 |
10.7 |
15.4 |
18.0 |
11.3 |
62.7 |
Ecuador |
12.6 |
10.1 |
15.4 |
20.0 |
11.9 |
70.0 |
El Salvador |
7.6 |
11.4 |
12.6 |
12.9 |
8.7 |
53.3 |
Guatemala |
10.9 |
11.1 |
13.8 |
7.1 |
10.4 |
53.3 |
Guyana |
18.1 |
13.7 |
14.0 |
16.7 |
10.4 |
72.8 |
Haiti |
6.1 |
4.8 |
10.5 |
4.3 |
7.0 |
32.7 |
Honduras |
11.4 |
10.3 |
14.2 |
11.4 |
8.6 |
55.9 |
Mexico |
8.1 |
12.1 |
14.1 |
15.5 |
9.5 |
59.2 |
Nicaragua |
13.4 |
6.7 |
11.6 |
17.7 |
10.5 |
59.8 |
Panama |
14.3 |
12.1 |
13.6 |
14.4 |
10.8 |
65.2 |
Paraguay |
13.5 |
6.9 |
13.2 |
13.6 |
9.1 |
56.3 |
Peru |
15.0 |
12.1 |
13.9 |
16.1 |
9.5 |
66.5 |
Suriname |
19.4 |
17.9 |
16.2 |
14.8 |
10.4 |
78.6 |
Uruguay |
12.8 |
13.4 |
15.6 |
13.7 |
9.9 |
65.5 |
Venezuela |
14.0 |
9.5 |
14.9 |
13.2 |
10.9 |
62.5 |
