Earth’s water
Where is Earth’s water?
Earth holds roughly 1.386 billion cubic kilometres of water. Almost all of it is salt. Almost all of the fresh water is frozen. What is left is what everything depends on.
Every store, to scale
Earth’s water by store — true proportions
The oceans occupy 96.5% of this bar. Everything else is squeezed into the remainder, which is precisely the point.
View the data behind this chart
| Component | Value (km³) | Share | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oceans and seas | 1,338,000,000 | 96.5368% | Over 96% of all water on Earth is salt water in the oceans. It is unusable for drinking, agriculture or most industry without desalination. |
| Ice caps, glaciers and permanent snow | 24,064,000 | 1.7362% | The largest store of fresh water by far — over two thirds of it — but almost all of it is in Antarctica and Greenland, far from where people live. |
| Fresh groundwater | 10,530,000 | 0.7597% | Almost all of the world’s liquid fresh water. Much of it lies too deep to reach economically, and some is fossil water that is not being replenished. |
| Saline groundwater | 12,870,000 | 0.9286% | Deep or coastal groundwater too saline to use without treatment. It slightly exceeds the volume of fresh groundwater. |
| Ground ice and permafrost | 300,000 | 0.0216% | Frozen soil moisture in high latitudes. Thawing permafrost releases this water, and the carbon held with it. |
| Fresh water lakes | 91,000 | 0.0066% | A single lake — Baikal — holds roughly a fifth of this, and the North American Great Lakes together hold about another fifth. |
| Saline lakes and inland seas | 85,400 | 0.0062% | Includes the Caspian Sea, which alone accounts for most of this volume. |
| Soil moisture | 16,500 | 0.0012% | Tiny as a stock, but it is the water that grows almost all food. Green water in footprint accounting is this store. |
| Atmospheric water vapour | 12,900 | 0.0009% | A minute stock that turns over roughly every eight to ten days, and delivers all precipitation on Earth. |
| Swamps and wetlands | 11,470 | 0.0008% | Small in volume, disproportionately important for water quality, flood attenuation and biodiversity. |
| Rivers | 2,120 | 0.0002% | Rivers hold about two thousandths of one percent of Earth’s water at any instant, yet supply most of the water people use. Their importance comes from flow, not from storage. |
| Water in living things | 1,120 | 0.0001% | All the water inside every plant, animal and person on Earth, held for hours to weeks before returning to the cycle. |
Source: USGS Water Science School, after Shiklomanov. Estimates of static global stocks, with real uncertainty — groundwater in particular cannot be measured directly at global scale.
The same data on a logarithmic scale
Now every store is visible. Segment widths show orders of magnitude, not proportions — the two charts together tell the truth that neither does alone.
View the data behind this chart
| Component | Value (km³) | Share | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oceans and seas | 1,338,000,000 | 96.5379% | Over 96% of all water on Earth is salt water in the oceans. It is unusable for drinking, agriculture or most industry without desalination. |
| Ice caps, glaciers and permanent snow | 24,064,000 | 1.7362% | The largest store of fresh water by far — over two thirds of it — but almost all of it is in Antarctica and Greenland, far from where people live. |
| Fresh groundwater | 10,530,000 | 0.7597% | Almost all of the world’s liquid fresh water. Much of it lies too deep to reach economically, and some is fossil water that is not being replenished. |
| Saline groundwater | 12,870,000 | 0.9286% | Deep or coastal groundwater too saline to use without treatment. It slightly exceeds the volume of fresh groundwater. |
| Ground ice and permafrost | 300,000 | 0.0216% | Frozen soil moisture in high latitudes. Thawing permafrost releases this water, and the carbon held with it. |
| Fresh water lakes | 91,000 | 0.0066% | A single lake — Baikal — holds roughly a fifth of this, and the North American Great Lakes together hold about another fifth. |
| Saline lakes and inland seas | 85,400 | 0.0062% | Includes the Caspian Sea, which alone accounts for most of this volume. |
| Soil moisture | 16,500 | 0.0012% | Tiny as a stock, but it is the water that grows almost all food. Green water in footprint accounting is this store. |
| Atmospheric water vapour | 12,900 | 0.0009% | A minute stock that turns over roughly every eight to ten days, and delivers all precipitation on Earth. |
| Swamps and wetlands | 11,470 | 0.0008% | Small in volume, disproportionately important for water quality, flood attenuation and biodiversity. |
| Rivers | 2,120 | 0.0002% | Rivers hold about two thousandths of one percent of Earth’s water at any instant, yet supply most of the water people use. Their importance comes from flow, not from storage. |
| Water in living things | 1,120 | 0.0001% | All the water inside every plant, animal and person on Earth, held for hours to weeks before returning to the cycle. |
Fresh water alone
Where the fresh water is
Just 2.53% of all water on Earth. More than two thirds of it is ice.
View the data behind this chart
| Component | Value (km³) | Share | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ice caps, glaciers and permanent snow | 24,064,000 | 68.6974% | The largest store of fresh water by far — over two thirds of it — but almost all of it is in Antarctica and Greenland, far from where people live. |
| Fresh groundwater | 10,530,000 | 30.0608% | Almost all of the world’s liquid fresh water. Much of it lies too deep to reach economically, and some is fossil water that is not being replenished. |
| Ground ice and permafrost | 300,000 | 0.8564% | Frozen soil moisture in high latitudes. Thawing permafrost releases this water, and the carbon held with it. |
| Fresh water lakes | 91,000 | 0.2598% | A single lake — Baikal — holds roughly a fifth of this, and the North American Great Lakes together hold about another fifth. |
| Soil moisture | 16,500 | 0.0471% | Tiny as a stock, but it is the water that grows almost all food. Green water in footprint accounting is this store. |
| Atmospheric water vapour | 12,900 | 0.0368% | A minute stock that turns over roughly every eight to ten days, and delivers all precipitation on Earth. |
| Swamps and wetlands | 11,470 | 0.0327% | Small in volume, disproportionately important for water quality, flood attenuation and biodiversity. |
| Rivers | 2,120 | 0.0061% | Rivers hold about two thousandths of one percent of Earth’s water at any instant, yet supply most of the water people use. Their importance comes from flow, not from storage. |
| Water in living things | 1,120 | 0.0032% | All the water inside every plant, animal and person on Earth, held for hours to weeks before returning to the cycle. |
2.53%
of all Earth’s water is fresh
68.7%
of fresh water is locked in ice and glaciers
30.1%
of fresh water is groundwater
0.0002%
of all water is in rivers at any moment
How the water moves
Every store in detail
| Store | Volume (km³) | Share of all water | Share of fresh water | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oceans and seas | 1,338,000,000 | 96.54% | — | Over 96% of all water on Earth is salt water in the oceans. It is unusable for drinking, agriculture or most industry without desalination. |
| Ice caps, glaciers and permanent snow | 24,064,000 | 1.74% | 68.7% | The largest store of fresh water by far — over two thirds of it — but almost all of it is in Antarctica and Greenland, far from where people live. |
| Fresh groundwater | 10,530,000 | 0.76% | 30.1% | Almost all of the world’s liquid fresh water. Much of it lies too deep to reach economically, and some is fossil water that is not being replenished. |
| Saline groundwater | 12,870,000 | 0.93% | — | Deep or coastal groundwater too saline to use without treatment. It slightly exceeds the volume of fresh groundwater. |
| Ground ice and permafrost | 300,000 | 0.022% | 0.86% | Frozen soil moisture in high latitudes. Thawing permafrost releases this water, and the carbon held with it. |
| Fresh water lakes | 91,000 | 0.007% | 0.26% | A single lake — Baikal — holds roughly a fifth of this, and the North American Great Lakes together hold about another fifth. |
| Saline lakes and inland seas | 85,400 | 0.006% | — | Includes the Caspian Sea, which alone accounts for most of this volume. |
| Soil moisture | 16,500 | 0.001% | 0.05% | Tiny as a stock, but it is the water that grows almost all food. Green water in footprint accounting is this store. |
| Atmospheric water vapour | 12,900 | 0.001% | 0.04% | A minute stock that turns over roughly every eight to ten days, and delivers all precipitation on Earth. |
| Swamps and wetlands | 11,470 | 8.0e-4 | 0.03% | Small in volume, disproportionately important for water quality, flood attenuation and biodiversity. |
| Rivers | 2,120 | 2.0e-4 | 0.006% | Rivers hold about two thousandths of one percent of Earth’s water at any instant, yet supply most of the water people use. Their importance comes from flow, not from storage. |
| Water in living things | 1,120 | 1.0e-4 | 0.003% | All the water inside every plant, animal and person on Earth, held for hours to weeks before returning to the cycle. |
How much water each country takes
All countries →Total annual freshwater withdrawal by country
Water taken from rivers, lakes and aquifers for all uses. Not the same as consumption — much of it is returned.
Low → high (km³/yr)Not held
Reference years differ substantially between countries, sometimes by more than a decade. Countries shaded as no data are not zero; Hydrionis does not hold a value for them.
View the data behind this chart
Source: FAO AQUASTAT.
Go deeper
Where is Earth’s water? →
The full explainer, with the step-by-step reduction from all water to usable water.
Why is the sea salty? →
Rivers deliver minerals, evaporation removes only water. Over hundreds of millions of years, that is enough.
The water cycle →
The pathways, the fluxes and — most usefully — the residence times.
Water scarcity explained →
Five different ways to run short of water, only one of which is physical shortage.