- Almost two in three people lacking access to safe drinking water survive on less than $2 a day and one in three on less than $1 a day. More than 660 million people without adequate sanitation live on less than $2 a day, and more than 385 million on less than $1 a day. This evidence highlights clearly the financing difficulties of improving access through household investment. (UNDP: Human Development Report, 2006)
- Economic losses, due to the lack of water and sanitation in Africa as a result of the mortality and morbidity impacts, are estimated at $28.4 billion or about 5 per cent of GDP. (3rd UN World Water Development Report, 2009)
- Adequate investments in water management, infrastructure and services can yield a high economic return by avoiding costs related to water pollution, contamination and disasters. Estimations show that every $1 invested in improved water supply and sanitation yields gains of $4-$12. (3rd UN World Water Development Report, 2009)
- In aggregate, the total annual economic benefits of meeting the MDG target on water supply and sanitation accrue to USD 84 billion. (SIWI: Making Water a Part of Economic Development: The Economic Benefits of Improved Water Management and Services, 2005)
- Poor countries with access to clean water and sanitation services experience faster economic growth than those without: one study found that the annual economic growth rate was 3.7 per cent among poor countries with better access to improved water and sanitation services, while similarly poor countries without access had an annual growth of just 0.1 per cent. (Sachs, J: Macroeconomics and Health: Investing in Health for Economic Development, Report of the Commission on Macroeconomics and Health, Prepared for WHO, 2001)
- The financial and economic crises have deepened food insecurity in 2009: 915 million people around the world are undernourished according to FAO. (FAO: The State of Food Insecurity in the World, 2009)
- While water and sanitation aid has grown gradually over the last few decades, with recent increases in bilateral aid, growth has been much lower than that in the health, education and governance sectors. Its share of total aid decreased from 8 per cent in 1997 to 5 per cent in 2008. (UN-Water: GLAAS, 2010)
- The median reported government spending on sanitation and drinking-water is 0.48 per cent of GDP. (UN-Water: GLAAS, 2010)
- WHO estimates that $190 billion of investment is needed each year until 2015 in order to achieve and maintain the water and sanitation targets in all regions. This compared with $7.8 billion of global aid flows in 2010. (WaterAid and Development Initiatives: Addressing the shortfall, 2012)
- Corruption in the water sector can raise the investment costs of achieving the Millennium Development Goals target for water and sanitation by almost $50 billion. (Transparency International: Global Corruption Report, 2008)
- In some countries corruption increases the cost of connecting a household to a water network by more than 30 per cent. (Transparency International: Global Corruption Report, 2008)
- Poor people living in the slums often pay 5-10 times more per litre of water than wealthy people living in the same city. (UNDP: Human Development Report, 2006)
- The private sector’s proportion in the water and sewerage sectors in developing countries is on average only 35 per cent, whereas in the developed world it constitutes 80 per cent of the market. (2nd UN World Water Development Report, 2006)
- The cost of adapting to the impacts of a 2°C rise in global average temperature could range from US$70 to $100 billion per year between 2020 and 2050, according to the World Bank. (4th UN World Water Development Report, 2012)
