Industry Facts and Figures
Global desalinated-water production from seawater desalination plants exceeds 99 million m³/day (as of 2022 data).
Studies estimate that there are more than 21 000 seawater Desalination plants (by 2022)
Of those, about 16,876 are operational plants globally.
Desalinated water accounts for ~1% of global drinking water.
Reverse Osmosis (RO) accounts for around 85% of operational desalination capacity and 91% of plants under construction worldwide.
The global water-desalination equipment market was estimated at USD 18.36 billion in 2024.
The same market is projected to reach USD 31.69 billion by 2030 (CAGR ~9.6%).
Modern SWRO desalination plants frequently achieve specific energy consumption values between 2.5 and 4.0 kWh/m³.
The Middle East & North Africa (MENA) region accounts for an estimated 70% of global desalination capacity.
Global freshwater demand is projected to exceed supply by 40% by 2030, leaving an estimated 1.6 billion people without access to safely managed drinking water; today, around 4 billion people live in water-scarce regions and one in four cities faces water insecurity.