Spain's northeast Catalonia region is currently suffering its worst drought on record.
And, as Statista's Anna Fleck reports, it's not just Spain afflicted with this problem: The EU Commission's Joint Research Center sounded the alarm earlier this year over how prolonged drought events have affected Europe for more than two years already and northern Africa for as many as six, which is "causing water shortages and hampering vegetation growth."
Comment: Indeed extreme weather is having a catastrophic impact on food supplies; it's just an issue that is sorely underreported. However, as just one example, in the UK, due to increasing incompetence and corruption, there's been no significant investment in water infrastructure over the past 30 years, which means that despite receiving up to double the amount of rainfall at various other times throughout the year, the government is enforcing water restrictions come summertime.
Food and water supplies were not considered a particular issue among Europeans for a long time. But new data illustrates how that is starting to change.
According to a survey by Statista's Consumer Insights, as many as one in four respondents in France said that food and water security was one of the biggest challenges their country faced in 2023.
The proportion was similarly high in the United Kingdom (24 percent), Spain (24 percent) and Italy (23 percent).
In all four polled countries supply security has become a more widespread concern with each passing year.
Comment: And people are right to be concerned: Europe is wargaming a food crisis - Bloomberg
Moreover, the situation is much the same across the Western world, however at the moment it seems that it's the price of goods - and 'skimplflation' - that's, ultimately, causing their health to suffer: