Water consumption

Water consumption: increase due to multiple uses

Water consumption includes domestic, irrigation, and industrial use. Irrigation use is considerable in arid and semi-arid areas, occasionally with the ensuing environmental damage such as lower water tables and salinisation of the soil. Household consumption is in constant increase, due to population increase and improved living conditions in developing countries.

With the exception of Guyana and Suriname, the countries with the highest water consumption do not necessarily have an abundant domestic water supply. Some notable examples are central Asian countries with a highly water-intensive cotton industry (Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Kirghizstan, Tajikistan); and Iraq, the United States, and Canada.
Of the 20 countries with the lowest water consumption, 17 are in Africa. Some have an abundant water supply but a low standard of living, such as the Central African Republic.

In some countries water consumption exceeds availability (Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Libya, and most near and Middle-Eastern countries). This is explained by the use of technology such as seawater desalination or tapping into non-renewable fossil water. Sustainability is an issue for these methods which are also used in countries where there is no water deficit, such as in Northern Africa.