Yemen Environment - 2024

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.)

Food insecurity

widespread lack of access:due to conflict, poverty, floods, high food and fuel prices - in 2023, a partial analysis in government‑controlled areas, where approximately 25 percent of the population in acute food insecurity resides, shows that the situation remains dire; despite some improvements in security, the economic crisis and localized conflicts continue, fueled by persistent political instability, while insufficient external revenues and elevated global commodity prices on imported food limits food security (2023)

Revenue from forest resources

0.04% of GDP (2018 est.)

Revenue from coal

0% of GDP (2018 est.)

Air pollutants

particulate matter emissions: 41.61 micrograms per cubic meter (2019 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.)