Record Water Tariff Increases Finally End, But Europe Emerges A New Leader

(MENAFN- GlobeNewsWire - Nasdaq) OXFORD, United Kingdom, Sept. 26, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Global Water Intelligence (GWI)'s annual Tariff Survey, published on 24^th September, found that average global water tariff growth from 2024 to 2025 was 6.2%, putting an end to the record increases seen in the high-inflation post-pandemic years.

Where tariffs are increasing, however, the decision is more frequently driven by the needs for long-term investments rather than operational cost recovery, which was driving early post-pandemic increases.

Unusually, Europe is at the forefront of this year's tariff increase, with new legislation and investments in climate change resilience driving higher-than-usual increases. Two countries join Europe at the top of the increase table, Turkey and Kazakhstan, with both countries taking seven of the ten spots for top increases in 2025. Apart from these two outliers, tariff growth in Asia and the Middle East is sluggish however, and tariffs remain amongst the lowest in the world.

In Latin America and the Caribbean, where GWI surveyed 93 cities from 40 countries and territories, things are surprisingly subdued this year, with increases in the region mirroring those in North America for the first time. So far, it appears that Argentina's massive price increase last year was a shock rather than a trend, although the upcoming privatisation of Buenos Aires utility AySA may spell further increases.

As for North America, tariff growth is stable, underpinned in many cities by increases in stormwater charges to cope with more extreme weather events.

Become a GWI Member today to access the full dataset, including detailed tariff profiles for 641 cities in 200 countries, in-depth articles, plus all previous tariff survey data dating back to 2011:

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