Extreme water stress affects a quarter of the world's population, say experts

Qatar, Israel and Lebanon top list of places with worst shortages, as climate crisis threatens more 'day zeroes'

A quarter of the world's population across 17 countries are living in regions of extremely high water stress, a measure of the level of competition over water resources, a new report reveals.

Experts at the World Resources Institute (WRI) warned that increasing water stress could lead to more "day zeroes" - a term that gained popularity in 2018 as Cape Town in South Africa came dangerously close to running out of water.