Yemen Environment - 2023

GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES 

Environment - current issues

limited natural freshwater resources; inadequate supplies of potable water; overgrazing; soil erosion; desertification

Environment - international agreements

party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping-London Protocol, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Wetlands

signed, but not ratified: Climate Change-Paris Agreement, Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban

Climate

mostly desert; hot and humid along west coast; temperate in western mountains affected by seasonal monsoon; extraordinarily hot, dry, harsh desert in east

Land use

agricultural land: 44.5% (2018 est.)

arable land: 2.2% (2018 est.)

permanent crops: 0.6% (2018 est.)

permanent pasture: 41.7% (2018 est.)

forest: 1% (2018 est.)

other: 54.5% (2018 est.)

Urbanization

urban population: 39.8% of total population (2023)

rate of urbanization: 3.71% annual rate of change (2015-20 est.)

total population growth rate v. urban population growth rate, 2000-2030

Food insecurity

widespread lack of access: due to conflict, poverty, floods, high food and fuel prices - the number of food insecure people was projected to increase by over 1 million to 17.4 million between January and May 2022, increasing to 19 million starting from June until the end of the year; economic conditions in the country remain dire; the conflict is further hampering the already constrained livelihood activities and humanitarian access; income earning opportunities have declined due to COVID‑19‑related business disruptions (2022)

Revenue from forest resources

0.04% of GDP (2018 est.)

Revenue from coal

0% of GDP (2018 est.)

Air pollutants

particulate matter emissions: 44.96 micrograms per cubic meter (2016 est.)

carbon dioxide emissions: 10.61 megatons (2016 est.)

methane emissions: 8.03 megatons (2020 est.)

Waste and recycling

municipal solid waste generated annually: 4,836,820 tons (2011 est.)

municipal solid waste recycled annually: 386,946 tons (2016 est.)

percent of municipal solid waste recycled: 8% (2016 est.)

Total water withdrawal

municipal: 270 million cubic meters (2020 est.)

industrial: 70 million cubic meters (2020 est.)

agricultural: 3.24 billion cubic meters (2020 est.)

Total renewable water resources

2.1 billion cubic meters (2020 est.)

NOTE: The information regarding Yemen on this page is re-published from the 2023 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency and other sources. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Yemen 2023 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Yemen 2023 should be addressed to the CIA or the source cited on each page.