Sector
Agriculture
By far the largest water user in the world, accounting for roughly 70% of global freshwater withdrawal and a substantially higher share of consumption. Almost all discussion of "saving water" that focuses on households is addressing a small fraction of the total.
Key facts
- Share of global freshwater withdrawal
- approximately 70%
- Share in low-income countries
- frequently over 90%
- Share of global irrigated area that is groundwater fed
- approximately 40%
What drives water use in this sector
- Crop type and its evapotranspiration requirement
- Climate — the same crop uses several times more water in a hot dry region than a temperate one
- Irrigation method: surface, sprinkler or drip
- Conveyance losses in open canals, which can exceed a third of diverted water
- Cropping intensity and whether double cropping is practised
Related intelligence
Irrigationpart ofLivestockpart ofData centressame topicHouseholdssame topicArtificial intelligence workloadssame topicEnergy and power generationsame topicIndustrysame topicSemiconductor manufacturingsame topicMiningsame topicFood and beverage processingsame topicHydropowersame topicTextilessame topic
Sources
- Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations — AQUASTAT — Global Information System on Water and Agriculture. Public but restricted · CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO
- United States Geological Survey — Estimated Use of Water in the United States. Open · US Government work — public domain
- International Energy Agency — Water–energy nexus analysis. Public but restricted · Publisher terms — public access, reuse not clearly granted