Annual freshwater withdrawals in South Africa
South Africa: Annual freshwater withdrawals was 21.11 billion in 2022. β² Rising
Annual freshwater withdrawals in South Africa, 1990β2022
Source: Our World in Data.
Analysis
South Africa recorded 21.11 billion for annual freshwater withdrawals in 2022. That is the highest value across all 33 years on record.
That represents a change of up 1.1% on the previous year and up 38.1% over ten years.
Over the whole period, annual freshwater withdrawals in South Africa peaked at 21.11 billion in 2022 and was at its lowest, 12.73 billion, in 2000.
South Africa ranks 35th of 181 countries on this measure, in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 33 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 12.98 billion | 12.80 billion | 13.29 billion | 10 |
| 2000s | 13.69 billion | 12.73 billion | 14.65 billion | 10 |
| 2010s | 17.27 billion | 14.29 billion | 20.00 billion | 10 |
| 2020s | 20.77 billion | 20.31 billion | 21.11 billion | 3 |
Countries ranked near South Africa
- 32 Colombia 24.26 billion compare
- 33 Saudi Arabia 23.38 billion compare
- 34 Venezuela 22.62 billion compare
- 36 Afghanistan 20.28 billion compare
- 37 Syria 13.96 billion compare
- 38 Madagascar 13.46 billion compare
More environment data for South Africa
- Standard Deviation, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Standard Deviation 0.275 Β°C (2025)
- Temperature change 1.05 Β°C (2025)
- Recovered paper β Production 1.18 million t (2024)
- Total fibre furnish β Production 2.03 million t (2024)
- Other paper and paperboard, not elsewhere specified β Import value 30,837 1000 USD (2024)
- Other paper and paperboard, not elsewhere specified β Import quantity 7,586 t (2024)
- Other paper and paperboard β Export value 272,220 1000 USD (2024)
- Other paper and paperboard β Export quantity 385,631 t (2024)
- Other paper and paperboard β Import value 516,696 1000 USD (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is annual freshwater withdrawals in South Africa?
- Annual freshwater withdrawals in South Africa was 21.11 billion in 2022, according to Our World in Data.
- What is the highest annual freshwater withdrawals recorded in South Africa?
- The highest recorded value was 21.11 billion in 2022.
- What is the lowest annual freshwater withdrawals recorded in South Africa?
- The lowest recorded value was 12.73 billion in 2000.
- How does South Africa rank for annual freshwater withdrawals?
- South Africa ranks 35th out of 181 countries with data for 2022.
- Is annual freshwater withdrawals rising or falling in South Africa?
- Over the last ten years it is up 38.1%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this South Africa data come from?
- The figures come from Our World in Data, published as part of Annual freshwater withdrawals. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV Β· JSON β 33 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).