Water withdrawals per capita by country

Total water withdrawals from agricultural, industrial and municipal purposes per capita, measured in cubic meters (m³) per year.

Countries reporting
42
Highest
2,646 m³ per person per year
Iraq
Lowest
82.12 m³ per person per year
Cote d'Ivoire
Median
450.3 m³ per person per year
Years covered
46
1970–2015
Data points
293

What the numbers show

Water withdrawals per capita is currently reported for 42 countries. The highest value is 2,646 m³ per person per year in Iraq; the lowest is 82.12 m³ per person per year in Cote d'Ivoire.

The median across all reporting countries is 450.3 m³ per person per year, and the mean is 586.53 m³ per person per year.

The gap between the highest and lowest reporting country is a factor of about 32.

Over the past decade 17 countries rose and 25 fell. The largest increase was in Finland (up 146.7%), and the largest decrease in United Kingdom (down 51.5%).

Water withdrawals per capita: full country ranking

#Country LatestYear 10-year changeTrend
1 Iraq 2,646 m³ per person per year 2000 up 14.2% falling
2 United States 1,543 m³ per person per year 2010 down 20.4% falling
3 Estonia 1,310 m³ per person per year 2015 down 4.0% falling
4 Finland 1,241 m³ per person per year 2005 up 146.7% rising
5 New Zealand 1,172 m³ per person per year 2010 up 47.9% rising
6 Canada 1,113 m³ per person per year 2010 down 21.2% falling
7 Armenia 1,084 m³ per person per year 2015 up 13.3% rising
8 Libya 927.9 m³ per person per year 2010 up 18.4% rising
9 Greece 865.2 m³ per person per year 2005 up 7.5% rising
10 Iceland 844.9 m³ per person per year 2015 up 56.4% volatile
11 Spain 800.9 m³ per person per year 2010 down 6.8% falling
12 Bulgaria 787.3 m³ per person per year 2015 down 3.9% falling
13 Australia 724.7 m³ per person per year 2015 down 19.0% falling
14 Mexico 674.4 m³ per person per year 2015 down 3.4% falling
15 Japan 640.6 m³ per person per year 2010 down 4.5% falling
16 Netherlands 640 m³ per person per year 2010 up 15.4% flat
17 India 602.3 m³ per person per year 2010 up 7.6% flat
18 Mauritius 588 m³ per person per year 2005 up 10.3% rising
19 Belgium 542 m³ per person per year 2010 down 16.6% falling
20 Hungary 507.2 m³ per person per year 2010 down 9.8% rising
21 France 475.6 m³ per person per year 2010 down 11.7% falling
22 China 425 m³ per person per year 2015 up 0.4% flat
23 Austria 413 m³ per person per year 2010 down 8.6% falling
24 Germany 410.5 m³ per person per year 2010 down 14.3% falling
25 Romania 328.9 m³ per person per year 2015 up 0.2% falling
26 Morocco 316.2 m³ per person per year 2010 down 37.0% falling
27 Tunisia 303.7 m³ per person per year 2010 up 5.1% rising
28 Poland 297.3 m³ per person per year 2010 down 2.5% falling
29 Israel 282.3 m³ per person per year 2005 down 12.3% falling
30 Sweden 281.8 m³ per person per year 2010 down 6.2% falling
31 Switzerland 249.9 m³ per person per year 2010 down 28.1% falling
32 Algeria 225 m³ per person per year 2010 up 25.8% rising
33 Cyprus 219.1 m³ per person per year 2015 up 7.5% falling
34 Belarus 159.4 m³ per person per year 2015 down 10.7% falling
35 Czechia 156.5 m³ per person per year 2015 down 17.9% falling
36 Jordan 145.4 m³ per person per year 2015 down 10.1% falling
37 Monaco 133.7 m³ per person per year 2010 down 24.7% falling
38 United Kingdom 129.2 m³ per person per year 2010 down 51.5% falling
39 Latvia 125.8 m³ per person per year 2015 up 25.2% falling
40 Denmark 116.4 m³ per person per year 2010 down 6.4% falling
42 Slovakia 103.1 m³ per person per year 2015 down 19.2% falling
43 Cote d'Ivoire 82.12 m³ per person per year 2005 up 2.0% rising

About this data

Indicator
Water withdrawals per capita
Unit
m³ per person per year
Source
FAO (2017) – processed by Our World in Data
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
44 places, 293 data points, 1970–2015
Last refreshed

Total water withdrawals from agricultural, industrial and municipal purposes per capita, measured in cubic meters (m³) per year.