Algeria Environment - 2024

Environment - current issues

air pollution in major cities; soil erosion from overgrazing and other poor farming practices; desertification; dumping of raw sewage, petroleum refining wastes, and other industrial effluents is leading to the pollution of rivers and coastal waters; Mediterranean Sea, in particular, becoming polluted from oil wastes, soil erosion, and fertilizer runoff; inadequate supplies of potable water

Environment - international agreements

party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Climate Change-Paris Agreement, Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands

signed, but not ratified: Nuclear Test Ban

Climate

arid to semiarid; mild, wet winters with hot, dry summers along coast; drier with cold winters and hot summers on high plateau; sirocco is a hot, dust/sand-laden wind especially common in summer

Land use

agricultural land: 17.4% (2018 est.)

arable land: 3.2% (2018 est.)

permanent crops: 0.4% (2018 est.)

permanent pasture: 13.8% (2018 est.)

forest: 0.8% (2018 est.)

other: 81.8% (2018 est.)

Urbanization

urban population: 75.3% of total population (2023)

rate of urbanization: 1.99% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)

Revenue from forest resources

0.1% of GDP (2018 est.)

Revenue from coal

0% of GDP (2018 est.)

Air pollutants

particulate matter emissions: 22.68 micrograms per cubic meter (2019 est.)

carbon dioxide emissions: 150.01 megatons (2016 est.)

methane emissions: 49.94 megatons (2020 est.)

Waste and recycling

municipal solid waste generated annually: 12,378,740 tons (2016 est.)

municipal solid waste recycled annually: 990,299 tons (2013 est.)

percent of municipal solid waste recycled: 8% (2013 est.)

Major watersheds (area sq km)

Atlantic Ocean drainage: Niger (2,261,741 sq km)
Internal (endorheic basin) drainage: Lake Chad (2,497,738 sq km)

Major aquifers

Lullemeden-Irhazer Aquifer System, Murzuk-Djado Basin, North Western Sahara Aquifer, Taoudeni-Tanezrouft Basin

Total water withdrawal

municipal: 3.6 billion cubic meters (2020 est.)

industrial: 190 million cubic meters (2020 est.)

agricultural: 6.67 billion cubic meters (2020 est.)

Total renewable water resources

11.67 billion cubic meters (2020 est.)