Humans depend heavily on nature. Drylands are home to 2.5 billion people, but the extent to which nature contributes to people (NCP) in drylands has been little explored. We examined the global contribution of nature to people, aiming to compare drylands and non-drylands. We predicted a lower contribution in drylands than non-drylands, largely because of the sparser population densities (peoples’ needs) and more degraded status of natural resources (lower potential contribution). Consistent with expectation, nature’s contribution was about 30% lower in drylands, with significantly lower values for drylands in Asia, Oceania, Africa and South America, but no difference for Europe and North America. Differences were due mainly to lower contributions from material and regulating contributions, i.e., the regulation of air quality, climate, water quantity and flow, soil protection and the supply of woody material, and potentially, lower use by people in drylands. Predicted declines in rainfall and increasing temperature are likely to place increasing pressure on nature to contribute to human well-being in drylands. A better understanding of nature’s contributions to people would improve our ability to allocate limited resources and achieve sustainable development in drylands.