AbstractCoastal hydrogeologists and oceanographers now recognize the potentially significant contribution that submarine groundwater discharge (SGD) could make to the coastal ocean. SGD may be both volumetrically and chemically important to coastal water and chemical budgets. A worldwide compilation of observed SGD shows that groundwater seepage from the land to the ocean occurs in many environments along the world's continental margins. Further, SGD has a significant influence on the environmental condition of many nearshore marine environments and provides a strong motivation for improved assessments. Our review reveals a critical lack of data from coastal zones of almost all parts of the world, especially in South America, Africa and parts of Asia, making a comprehensive compilation incomplete. SGD should be paid more attention with regard to water and dissolved material budgets at the local and global scales. SGD intercomparison experiments and coastal typologies (classification) may enable evaluation of the accuracy of the SGD estimates and up‐scaling of SGD to a global scale. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.