This data contains a new global salinity database, compiled from electrical conductivity (EC) monitoring data of both surface water (rivers, lakes/reservoirs) and groundwater locations over the period 1980-2019.The database includes information from over 16.3 million samples, from 45,103 surface water locations and 208,550 groundwater locations around the world.The database consists of three categories; (1) River Data, (2) Lake/Reservoir Data and (3) Groundwater Data. Each category have two associated data files in csv-format, one containing the full salinity data, and one summary file, which provides basic EC statistics (median, mean, max, min, sd), sampling summary information (start and end period of measurements, number of measurements) and other station and data information (coordinates, country, continent, data source) for each data location (Station_ID).