Source: Paul Raskin, Comprehensive Assessment of the Freshwater Resources of the World (Stockholm Environment Institute, Stockholm, 1997), pp. 66-67.

The map of the world above shows how vulnerable nations are to a low water supply.  It predicts the vulnerability in the year 2025 based on in-depth economic and environmental data.

In general, the world's poorer countries are more vulnerable than the wealthier ones.  Wealthy countries without sufficient water supplies can often acquire water.  For example, oil-rich countries in the desert have attempted expensive processes of purifying salt water.

Countries with abundant natural supplies of water, such as the United States and Russia, usually do not have high levels of vulnerability.