Quick Facts:
- Most developed nations do not fluoridate their water. In western Europe, for example, only 3% of the population consumes fluoridated water.
- While 25 countries have water fluoridation programs, 11 of these countries have less than 20% of their population consuming fluoridated water: Argentina (19%), Guatemala (13%), Panama (15%), Papa New Guinea (6%), Peru (2%), Serbia (3%), Spain (11%), South Korea (6%), the United Kingdom (11%), and Vietnam (4%).
- Only 11 countries in the world have more than 50% of their population drinking fluoridated water: Australia (80%), Brunei (95%); Chile (70%), Guyana (62%), Hong Kong (100%), the Irish Republic (73%), Israel (70% –note that they stopped fluoridation in 2014 and haven’t resumed as of April 2021), Malaysia (75%), New Zealand (62%), Singapore (100%), and the United States (64%).
- In total, 377,655,000 million people worldwide drink artificially fluoridated water. This represents 5% of the world’s population.
- There are more people drinking fluoridated water in the United States than the rest of the world combined.
- There is no difference in tooth decay between western nations that fluoridate their water and those that do not.
| Countries that Fluoridate their Water (SOURCE: British Fluoridation Society; November 2012) |
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| Country | Number of People Drinking Artificially Fluoridated Water | % of Population |
| Argentina | 3,100,000 | 19% |
| Australia | 17,600,000 | 80% |
| Brazil | 73,200,000 | 41% |
| Brunei | 375,000 | 95% |
| Canada | 14,260,000 | 44% |
| Chile | 11,800,000 | 70% |
| Fiji | 300,000 | 36% |
| Guatemala | 1,800,000 | 13% |
| Guyana | 45,000 | 62% |
| Hong Kong | 6,968,000 | 100% |
| Irish Republic | 3,250,000 | 73% |
| Israel | 5,270,000 | 70% |
| Libya | 400,000 | 22% |
| Malaysia | 20,700,000 | 75.5% |
| New Zealand | 2,330,000 | 61% |
| Panama | 510,000 | 15% |
| Papa New Guinea | 102,000 | 6% |
| Peru | 500,000 | 2% |
| Serbia | 300,000 | 3% |
| Singapore | 5,080,000 | 100% |
| South Korea | 2,820,000 | 6% |
| Spain | 4,250,000 | 11% |
| United Kingdom | 5,797,000 | 11% |
| United States | 194,206,000 | 64% |
| Vietnam | 3,500,000 | 4% |
| Total | 369,656,000 | 5% |
| SOURCE: British Fluoridation Society (2012). One in a Million: The facts about water fluoridation. Available online at: http://www.bfsweb.org/onemillion/onemillion2012.html (updated Nov. 2012) | ||