It has been estimated that some 10–20% of drylands are already degraded, the total area affected by desertification being between 6 and 12 million square kilometres, that about 1–6% of the inhabitants of drylands live in desertified areas, and that a billion people are under threat from further desertification.
据估算，约有10–20%的旱地已经退化，受沙漠化影响的土地总面积约在600-1200平方千米左右，约有1–6%的旱地居民居住在沙漠化地区，约有10亿人受到沙漠化的不断威胁。