Fast Facts

Date: 
Thursday, June 7, 2012

About Rivers and Dams

  • Percentage of the world’s largest rivers now fragmented by dams: 60

  • Number of large dams (more than 15 meters high) worldwide: Approx. 54,000

  • Estimated number of people displaced by large dams: 40-80 million

  • Estimated number of people negatively impacted by the downstream impacts of large dams: 500-800 million

  • Percentage of annual global development–induced displacement that is a result of dam projects: 40% (over 4 million people)

  • Amount invested in large hydropower projects worldwide in 2010: US$40-$45 billion.

  • Percentage of the world’s energy generated through hydropower: 20

  • Countries that account for more than half the world’s installed hydropower capacity (in order of installed capacity): China, Brazil, US, Canada, and Russia.

  • Number of countries which depend on hydropower for more than 90% of their electricity: 17 (10 of them are in Africa)

  • Number of people in the world without access to electricity: 1.4 billion (585 million in sub-Saharan Africa, 404 million in India)

  • Estimated number of people worldwide with inadequate access to clean water: 1.1 billion

  • Percent of the world’s freshwater fish that are endangered, vulnerable or extinct in large part due to dams and the loss of riparian habitat: 20%