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Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all


Data extracted in April 2025.

Planned article update: June 2026.

Highlights


Goal-level assessment of SDG 6 on “Clean Water and Sanitation” showing the EU has made moderate progress away from the sustainability objectives during the most recent five-year period of available data.
EU trend of SDG 6 on clean water and sanitation

This article is a part of a set of statistical articles, which are based on the Eurostat publication ’Sustainable development in the European Union — Monitoring report on progress towards the SDGs in an EU context — 2025 edition’. This report is the ninth edition of Eurostat’s series of monitoring reports on sustainable development, which provide a quantitative assessment of progress of the EU towards the SDGs in an EU context.

SDG 6 calls for ensuring universal access to safe and affordable drinking water, sanitation and hygiene, and ending open defecation. It also aims to improve water quality and water-use efficiency and to encourage sustainable abstractions and supply of freshwater.


Clean water and sanitation in the EU: overview and key trends

Access to water is a basic human need. Provision of drinking water and sanitation services is a matter of public and environmental health in the EU. Clean water in sufficient quantity is also of paramount importance for agriculture, industry and the environment and plays a crucial role in providing climate-related ecosystem services. Monitoring SDG 6 within an EU context focuses on sanitation, water quality and water scarcity. While the EU has made further progress on access to sanitation, trends for water quality have been mixed over the assessed five-year period, leading to an overall unfavourable goal-level assessment. While organic pollution in EU rivers and concentrations of nitrate in EU groundwater bodies have fallen, phosphate concentrations have risen strongly and the share of inland bathing waters with excellent water quality have decreased. Water scarcity has deteriorated, driven by increases in water exploitation and seasonal variations attributed to more frequent and severe drought events.

  • A table showing the indicators measuring progress towards SDG 6 in the EU.

    Table 1: Indicators measuring progress towards SDG 6, EU

  • A table showing the Explanation of symbols for indicating progress towards sustainability objectives and targets.

    Table 2: Explanation of symbols for indicating progress towards SD objectives and targets

Sanitation

Provision of drinking water and the adequate treatment of sewage are matters of public and environmental health. As a vital resource, water is considered a public good in the EU. Water utilities are subject to strict regulation regarding the quality and efficiency of services. The indicators chosen to monitor sanitation are the share of the population having neither a bath, nor a shower, nor indoor flushing toilet in their household and the share of the population connected to at least secondary waste water treatment.

Most EU citizens have access to basic sanitation and are connected to secondary waste water treatment

Overall, connection rates and the quality of water services in the EU were already high more than 10 years ago and have continued to improve. The share of the population without a bath, shower, or indoor flushing toilet in their household fell from 2.2% in 2015 to 1.5% in 2020. Data also show that the share of the EU population connected to secondary wastewater treatment has increased continuously since 2000, reaching 80.9% in 2021.

Conventional primary wastewater treatment mainly removes suspended solids and only reduces organic water pollution by 20–30%. Secondary treatment processes, which are typically applied after primary treatment, remove about 70% of organic pollution. Growth in the share of people connected to secondary treatment indicates that the Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive, which was first implemented in the 1990s, has helped to reduce pollution and improve water quality in Europe’s rivers, lakes and coastal waters. Implementation of the revised Directive will bring additional improvements, not only for water quality but also for access to sanitation.

Differences in the level of access to water services and sanitation persist between Member States

Almost every household in the EU had basic sanitary facilities in 2020, and most countries reported that less than 1% of their population were still living in households without a bath, shower or a flushing toilet. However, in some countries, this share remains comparatively high. In particular, Romania reported figures far above all other Member States, with 21.2% of the population not having access to basic sanitary facilities in 2020. Relatively high shares were also reported by Lithuania, Bulgaria and Latvia, with values between 6.4% and 7.0% in the same year. These figures highlight the strong link between access to basic sanitary facilities and poverty, which can be seen across the EU. In 2020, 5.1% of poor people in the EU lacked access to a bath, shower or toilet in their households, compared with only 0.8% of those living above the poverty threshold.

Connection to secondary wastewater treatment is another important facility for enhancing access to sanitation. Connection rates have increased slowly but continuously across the EU, with 80.9% of the EU population connected in 2022. This is a major increase compared with 2007, when the connection rate was 73.3%. Between 2017 and 2022, connection rates increased in almost all reporting Member States. The lowest-scoring countries were in south-east Europe. It is important to note that connection rates are not expected to reach 100% in most cases because connection costs can be disproportionately high in some areas, in particular for rural areas with a low population density. So far, the Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive only obliges bigger agglomerations to introduce secondary treatment, while requiring smaller agglomerations to apply an appropriate treatment (when wastewater is collected) or other alternative solutions to reach the same level of protection for water bodies. However, the 2024 revision of the Directive makes secondary treatment obligatory for smaller agglomerations too.

Water quality

Pollution from the use of nutrients and pesticides in agriculture is the most significant pressure affecting the quality of surface and groundwater [1]. Accidental spillage of harmful substances, and discharge of untreated or insufficiently treated domestic and industrial wastewater, as well as atmospheric deposition of pollutants such as mercury, pose additional threats to human and environmental health. These pressures, along with changes to the structure and flow of water bodies, hinder sustainable development. Water quality monitoring distinguishes between different kinds of chemical pollution such as organic pollution by nutrients, pesticides and pathogens. In this report, water quality is monitored through four indicators looking at nutrients in freshwater and at bathing water quality [2].

Improved waste water treatment has reduced organic pollution in European rivers

Heavy organic pollution, caused by municipal wastewater and effluents from industry or livestock, can lead to the deoxygenation of water, killing fish and invertebrates. Thanks to improved wastewater collection and treatment, as well as manure treatment, organic pollution in European rivers has been declining, though the trend has slowed in recent years. A proxy for organic water pollution is the amount of oxygen needed for microbes to digest organic pollution under standard conditions, expressed as biochemical oxygen demand (BOD). The BOD values in European rivers range from less than 1 milligram per litre (mg/L) (very clean) to more than 15 mg/L (heavily polluted).

Available data for 17 Member States show an overall decline in BOD in EU rivers, from 3.0 mg/L in 2007 to 2.7 mg/L in 2022. The trend, however, has not been continuous. While BOD levels were showing a downward trend up to 2011, they had climbed back to 3.2 mg/L by 2015, before falling again. Overall, BOD levels in EU rivers have fallen by 9.9% since 2007 and by 6.2% since 2017. Between 2017 and 2022, 11 out of 17 reporting Member States saw reductions in BOD in their rivers. The overall decrease in BOD values is mainly linked to a general improvement in wastewater collection and treatment throughout Europe.

Nitrate concentrations in EU groundwater bodies have decreased slightly

An assessment of European waters published by the European Environment Agency (EEA) concludes that despite decades of legislation and the EU’s target to reduce nutrient losses by 50%, high concentrations of nitrogen and phosphorus continue to have severe ecological effects on European waters. In some regions, pollution of rivers with nitrate/ammonia (N) and phosphorous (P) is still causing severe eutrophication in coastal waters (also see the article on SDG 14 ‘Life below water’). Eutrophication can lead to algal blooms and oxygen depletion of surface waters, which in turn can harm fish, invertebrates and whole ecosystems. In 2022 and 2024, such substantial toxic algal blooms caused widespread fish die-offs in the Oder River, leading to major ecological disasters [3].

The main sources of nutrient inputs are the use of fertilisers and animal waste in agriculture, as well as poorly treated wastewater from industry [4]. Nitrates (NO3), among other chemicals, can infiltrate and contaminate groundwater bodies. They are the most common cause of poor chemical status of groundwater in the EU Member States, having led to 14% of groundwater bodies by area being in poor status [5]. This is particularly problematic because groundwater is an important source of drinking water in Europe.

Data on nitrate concentrations in EU groundwater are available for 18 Member States. Despite legislative efforts to tackle nutrient pollution, the average nitrate concentration in EU groundwaters has remained relatively stable since 2000 [6]. NO3 concentrations have stagnated at around 21 milligrams per litre (mg/L) over the long term, although since 2016 they have shown a downward trend, reaching 20.7 mg/L in 2022. This concentration is 2.9% lower than in 2007 and 1.9% lower than in 2017. Nevertheless, between 2016 and 2019, 14.1% of groundwater stations showed NO3 concentrations above the threshold considered unfit for drinking, which the Nitrates Directive sets at 50 mg/L [7]. This represents almost one percentage point more than in the previous period from 2012 and 2015, where 13.2% of groundwater stations were above the threshold [8]. Even through results from a high-ambition model scenario indicate a significant potential for nutrient load reductions in the EU, it is unclear whether the current trend is adequate to fulfil the EU target of reducing nutrient losses to the environment by 50% by 2030 [9].

Phosphate concentrations in EU rivers have risen strongly in recent years

Data on phosphate (PO4) concentrations in EU rivers are available for 15 Member States. Concentrations improved markedly between 2007 and 2011, but since then the trend has levelled off and has even started increasing again. Thus, while the PO4 concentration of 0.074 mg/L recorded in 2022 is considerably below the values reported in the early 2000s of around 0.092 mg/L, it is 10.4% higher than in 2017. The overall positive long-term trend is to some extent the result of measures implemented under the Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive, especially the introduction of phosphate-free detergents [10]. The recent turnaround may be related to the slower decrease in phosphorus emissions from the agricultural sector as well as increasing phosphorus fertiliser consumption at EU level [11]. Of all the reporting Member States, Finland and Sweden on average had the lowest concentrations of phosphate in rivers between 2017 and 2022. This is likely to be a result of their low population densities and high levels of wastewater collection and treatment. In contrast, relatively high concentrations were found in some Member States with high population densities and/or intensive agriculture. The higher short-term values observed, particularly in Lithuania, Spain, Bulgaria and Belgium, may lead to freshwater eutrophication [12].

The share of inland bathing waters with excellent quality is on a downward trend

Contamination of water by faecal bacteria continues to pose a risk to human health. This is especially the case when it is found at bathing water sites, where it can cause illness among swimmers. Overall, the share of inland bathing waters with an excellent quality rating in the EU increased between 2011 and 2017, followed by a decline until 2020, slight improvements in 2021 and 2022, and a slight decrease again in 2023. The downward trend had been caused by a stagnation in the absolute number of bathing waters with excellent quality, while the total number of bathing waters included in the assessment rose. In 2023, 78.6% of inland bathing waters showed excellent quality, compared with 80.8% five years earlier and 79.3% in 2022. The major sources of bathing water pollution are sewage and water draining from farmland. Such pollution increases during heavy rains and floods which wash sewage overflow and polluted drainage water into rivers and seas.

Water scarcity

SDG 6 also focuses on the sustainable use of freshwater resources and on reducing water stress. The water exploitation index (WEI+) aims to illustrate the pressure on renewable freshwater resources due to water demand, which is largely affected by population trends and socio-economic developments; and climate conditions, which control the availability of renewable freshwater resources. The EU area impacted by drought is another indicator used, as severe and frequent droughts can exacerbate water scarcity conditions.

Water stress is low in most EU countries, but shows strong seasonal and local variability

Water stress occurs when water demand exceeds the available water resources at a specific place and time. A 2024 report by the European Environment Agency estimates that water stress affects on average 20% of Europe's territory and 30% of its population. Water scarcity is generally considered to occur when the ratio of water abstraction to long-term average available water resources exceeds 20%, while ratios above 40% indicate severe water scarcity, meaning the use of freshwater resources is unsustainable [13]. The four-year smoothed average shows that the EU’s WEI+ has decreased slightly by 0.1 index points over the past 15 years, from 5.0% in 2007 to 4.9% in 2022. The short-term trend since 2017 has, however, seen a strong increase in water exploitation in the EU, by 0.4 index points. A look at the annual figures shows that the change in the EU’s WEI+ has not been constant but has varied both annually and between Member States. The recent increase can be partly attributed to more frequent and severe droughts, which have affected water availability in an increasingly larger area in the EU [14].

In 2022, Cyprus experienced severe water stress with a mean annual WEI+ of 71%. Malta also showed water stress with a mean annual WEI+ of around 34%. However, annual national values can mask regional and seasonal water stress, which is in fact common in many European regions. In 2022, 34% of the EU population and 40% of its territory was affected by water scarcity conditions in at least one quarter of the year, with seasonal WEI+ values of above 20% [15].

Water scarcity is more common in southern Europe, where about 30% of the population lives in areas with permanent water stress and up to 70% of the population in areas with seasonal water stress during summer [16]. Agriculture, public water supply and tourism put significant pressures on these regions, which are exacerbated by climate change [17]. However, water scarcity also affects river basins in other parts of the EU, particularly in western Europe, where it is caused primarily by high population densities in urban areas, combined with high levels of abstraction for public water supply, energy and industry [18].

Drought impact in Europe is on a worsening trend

Severe and frequent droughts can increase the risks of water scarcity with detrimental effects on water supply for households, agriculture, energy and industry, as well on ecosystems and biodiversity. Droughts pose challenges to achieve the objectives of the EU's Water Framework Directive and other water-related policies due to their effects on both water quality and quantity. It is therefore important for the EU to take action to reduce the severity of impacts and strengthen the resilience of ecosystems and water supply to climate change-induced droughts. Monitoring meteorological drought impacts, in addition to hydrological water scarcity, supports these policy actions. As such, meteorological drought impacts caused by insufficient precipitation during the growing season may serve as an early warning signal for potential water scarcity, even though a direct relationship cannot be established with the current indicators.

The drought impact indicator monitors anomalies in vegetation productivity in areas with a soil moisture deficit during the growing season (also see article on SDG 15 ‘ Life on land’). In 2023, Europe experienced its second warmest year on record [19], resulting in more than 143 000 km2 or 3.6% of the EU area being affected by drought. This is slightly above the long-term average of about 141 000 km2 over the period 2000 to 2020. Although this is lower than in 2022, which had the largest drought-affected area on record, the overall extent of intense drought impacts in the EU is increasing [20]. Between 2000 and 2022, the number of drought-impacted areas in the EU showed an upward trend due to low precipitation, high evaporation and heatwaves. This trend was exacerbated by climate change and is negatively affecting ecosystem conditions [21].

Over the period from 2018 to 2023, the 10-year moving average of drought impact on ecosystems in the EU increased by 68.9%. A look at the underlying annual data shows strong fluctuations, with the area drought-affected more than tripling in some years. There are also large variations between countries. In 2023, the area impacted by drought in most of the Member States remained lower than or equal to the average for the years 2000 to 2020 [22]. The Baltic states, however, showed an increase in drought-impacted area in 2023 compared to the 2000 to 2020 average, with more than 10% of their land area affected.

Main indicators


Population having neither a bath, nor a shower, nor indoor flushing toilet in their household


The long-term evaluation of the indicator for population having neither a bath, nor a shower, nor indoor flushing toilet in their household for the period 2010 to 2020 shows significant progress towards sustainability objectives. The short-term evaluation for the period 2015 to 2020 also shows significant progress towards sustainability objectives.

This indicator reflects the share of total population having neither a bath, nor a shower, nor an indoor flushing toilet in their household. Data presented in this section stem from the EU Statistics on Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC).

A line chart showing the percentage of population having neither a bath, nor a shower, nor indoor flushing toilet in their household in the EU, from 2010 to 2020.
Figure 1: Population having neither a bath, nor a shower, nor indoor flushing toilet in their household, EU, 2010-2020 (% of population)
Source: Eurostat (sdg_06_10)


A double vertical bar chart showing the percentage of population having neither a bath, nor a shower, nor indoor flushing toilet in their household, by country in 2015 and 2020 in the EU, EU Member States and other European countries. The bars show the years.
Figure 2: Population having neither a bath, nor a shower, nor indoor flushing toilet in their household, by country, 2015 and 2020 (% of population)
Source: Eurostat (sdg_06_10)


Population connected to at least secondary wastewater treatment


The long-term evaluation of the indicator for population connected to at least secondary waste water treatment for the period 2007 to 2022 shows moderate progress towards sustainability objectives. The short-term evaluation for the period 2017 to 2022 also shows moderate progress towards sustainability objectives.

This indicator measures the percentage of the population connected to wastewater treatment systems with at least secondary treatment. Thereby, wastewater from urban or other sources is treated by a process generally involving biological treatment with a secondary settlement or other process that removes organic material and reduces its biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) by at least 70% and chemical oxygen demand (COD) by at least 75%. Data presented in this section stem from the Water Statistics of the European Statistical System (ESS).

A line chart with showing the percentage of population connected to at least secondary waste water treatment in the EU from 2000 to 2022.
Figure 3: Population connected to at least secondary waste water treatment, EU, 2000–2022 (% of population)
Note: y-axis does not start at 0.
Source: Eurostat (sdg_06_20)


A double vertical bar chart showing the percentage of population connected to at least secondary waste water treatment, by country in 2017 and 2022 in the EU, EU Member States and other European countries. The bars show the years.
Figure 4: Population connected to at least secondary wastewater treatment, by country, 2017 and 2022 (% of population)
Source: Eurostat (sdg_06_20)


Biochemical oxygen demand in rivers


The long-term evaluation of the indicator for biochemical oxygen demand in rivers for the period 2007 to 2022 shows moderate progress towards sustainability objectives. The short-term evaluation for the period 2017 to 2022 shows significant progress towards sustainability objectives.

Biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) of water bodies is a key indicator to measure water quality. It refers to the amount of oxygen that aerobic microorganisms need to decompose organic substances in a water sample over a five-day period at 20 °C (BOD5). High BOD5 values usually indicate organic pollution, which affects water quality and the aquatic environment. Organic pollution caused by discharges from wastewater treatment plants, industrial effluents and agricultural run-off increase BOD. The cleanest rivers have a five-day BOD of less than 1 milligram per litre (mg/L). Moderately polluted rivers show values ranging from 2 to 8 mg/L. Data presented in this section stem from the EEA Waterbase database on the status and quality of Europe's rivers.

A line chart showing biochemical oxygen demand in rivers as milligrams per litre, in the EU from 2000 to 2022.
Figure 5: Biochemical oxygen demand in rivers, EU, 2000-2022 (mg O2 per litre)
Source: EEA (Eurostat (sdg_06_30))


A double vertical bar chart showing biochemical oxygen demand in rivers as milligrams per litre, by country in 2017 and 2022 in the EU, EU Member States and other European countries. The bars show the years.
Figure 6: Biochemical oxygen demand in rivers, by country, 2017 and 2022 (mg O2 per litre)
Source: EEA (Eurostat (sdg_06_30))


Nitrate in groundwater


The long-term evaluation of the indicator for nitrate in groundwater for the period 2007 to 2022 shows moderate progress towards sustainability objectives. The short-term evaluation for the period 2017 to 2022 also shows moderate progress towards sustainability objectives.

This indicator shows concentrations of nitrate (NO3) in groundwater measured as milligrams per litre (mg NO3/L). The indicator can be used to illustrate geographical variations in current concentrations and temporal trends. Large inputs of nitrogen to water bodies from urban areas, industry and agricultural areas, can have negative impacts on the use of water for human consumption and other purposes. The data stem from the EEA Waterbase database on the status and quality of Europe's rivers.

A line chart showing nitrate in groundwater as milligrams per litre, in the EU from 2000 to 2022.
Figure 7: Nitrate in groundwater, EU, 2000-2022 (mg NO3 per litre)
Note: y-axis does not start at 0.
Source: EEA (Eurostat (sdg_06_40))


A double vertical bar chart and a horizontal line showing nitrate in groundwater as milligrams per litre, by country in 2017 and 2022, in the EU, EU Member States and other European countries. The bars show the years and the line shows the EU limit value for drinking water.
Figure 8: Nitrate in groundwater, by country, 2017 and 2022 (mg NO3 per litre)
Source: EEA (Eurostat (sdg_06_40))

Phosphate in rivers


The long-term evaluation of the indicator for phosphate in rivers for the period 2007 to 2022 shows significant progress towards sustainability objectives. The short-term evaluation for the period 2017 to 2022 shows significant movement away from sustainability objectives.

This indicator measures the concentration of phosphate (PO4) per litre in the dissolved phase from water samples from river stations and aggregated to annual average values. At high concentrations phosphate can cause water quality problems, such as eutrophication, by triggering the growth of aquatic plants including algae. The data stem from the EEA Waterbase database on the status and quality of Europe's rivers.

A line chart showing phosphate in rivers as milligrams per litre in the EU from 2000 to 2022.
Figure 9: Phosphate in rivers, EU, 2000-2022 (mg PO4 per litre)
Source: EEA (Eurostat (sdg_06_50))


A double vertical bar chart showing phosphate in rivers, by country in 2017 and 2022 as milligrams per litre, in the EU, EU Member States and other European countries. The bars show the years.
Figure 10: Phosphate in rivers, by country, 2017 and 2022 (mg PO4 per litre)
Source: EEA (Eurostat (sdg_06_50))

Water exploitation index (WEI+)


The long-term evaluation of the indicator for water exploitation index for the period 2007 to 2022 shows no progress towards nor movement away from the sustainability objectives. The short-term evaluation for the period 2017 to 2022 shows significant movement away from the sustainability objectives.

The water exploitation index (WEI+) provides a measure of total water consumption as a percentage of the renewable freshwater resources available for a given territory and period [23]. It quantifies how much water is abstracted and how much water is returned to the environment by economic sectors before or after use. The difference between water abstractions and water returns is regarded as ‘water consumption’. In the absence of agreed Europe-wide formal targets, values above 20% are generally considered to be a sign of water scarcity, while values equal to or greater than 40% indicate situations of severe water scarcity [24], meaning the use of freshwater resources is unsustainable. The indicator is produced by the European Environment Agency based on data from the WISE SoE-Water quantity database (WISE 3) and other open sources (Eurostat, OECD) and gap-filling methods.

A line chart with two lines showing the water exploitation index as a percentage of renewable water resources, in the EU from 2000 to 2022. The lines represent the annual data and the 4-year moving average.
Figure 11: Water exploitation index plus (WEI+), EU, 2000-2022 (% of renewable water resources)
Source: EEA (Eurostat (sdg_06_60))


A double vertical bar chart showing the water exploitation index as a percentage of renewable water resources, by country in 2017 and 2022, in the EU, EU Member States and other European countries. The bars show the years.
Figure 12: Water exploitation index plus (WEI+), by country, 2017 and 2022 (% of renewable water resources)
Source: EEA (Eurostat (sdg_06_60))

Footnotes

  1. ↑ European Environment Agency (2024), Europe's state of water 2024. The need for improved water resilience, EEA Report No 07/2024, Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg, p. 12.
  2. ↑ Chemical water quality is not evaluated in this report because of a lack of a comprehensive series of suitable data.
  3. ↑ European Commission (2023), Zero Pollution: New report draws lessons from the Oder River ecological disaster; DW (2024), Can Poland save the Oder River from toxic algae blooms?
  4. ↑ European Environment Agency (2017), Emissions of pollutants to Europe’s waters — sources, pathways and trends, ETC/ICM report, p. 17.
  5. ↑ European Environment Agency (2024), Europe's state of water 2024. The need for improved water resilience, EEA Report No 07/2024, Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg, p. 10.
  6. ↑ European Environment Agency (2024), Nitrate in groundwater.
  7. ↑ European Environment Agency (2024), Nitrate in groundwater; and European Commission (2021), Report from the Commission to the Council and the European Parliament on the implementation of Council Directive 91/676/EEC concerning the protection of waters against pollution caused by nitrates from agricultural sources based on Member State reports for the period 2016–2019, COM(2021) 1000 final, p. 4.
  8. ↑ European Commission (2020), Recommendations to the Member States as regards their strategic plan for the Common Agricultural Policy, COM(2020) 846 final.
  9. ↑ European Environment Agency (2024), Nitrate in groundwater.
  10. ↑ European Environment Agency (2024), Nutrients in freshwater in Europe.
  11. ↑ Eurostat (2024), Agri-environmental indicator - mineral fertiliser consumption.
  12. ↑ European Environment Agency (2024), Nutrients in freshwater in Europe.
  13. ↑ European Environment Agency (2025), Water scarcity conditions in Europe (Water exploitation index plus).
  14. ↑ Ibid.
  15. ↑ Ibid.
  16. ↑ Ibid.
  17. ↑ European Environment Agency (2024), Drought impact on ecosystems in Europe.
  18. ↑ European Environment Agency (2024), Water abstraction by source and economic sector in Europe.
  19. ↑ Copernicus Programme (2024), ESOTC 2023 | Europe | Temperature and thermal stress.
  20. ↑ European Environment Agency (2024), Drought impact on ecosystems in Europe.
  21. ↑ European Environment Agency (2023), 8th Environment Action Programme. Drought impact on ecosystems in Europe.
  22. ↑ European Environment Agency (2024), Drought impact on ecosystems in Europe.
  23. ↑ European Environment Agency (2025), Water scarcity conditions in Europe (Water exploitation index plus).
  24. ↑ Ibid.

Explore further

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Database


Thematic section


Publications


Further reading on clean water and sanitation


Methodology


More detailed information on EU SDG indicators for monitoring of progress towards the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), such as indicator relevance, definitions, methodological notes, background and potential linkages can be found in the introduction as well as in Annex II of the publication ’Sustainable development in the European Union — Monitoring report on progress towards the SDGs in an EU context — 2025 edition’.

External links


Further data sources on clean water and sanitation


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