The pie charts show six individual areas around the world, illustrating the proportion of water used for different needs.
According to the charts, the water consumption of North America is strikingly similar to the water consumption of Europe. In both continents, about half of the water is used by industry, almost a third by agriculture, and 13-15% by domestic use. Interestingly, South America’s water consumption is quite the opposite of North America’s and is more in line with that of the Asian and African continents. In Asian, African, and North American countries, a large proportion of water is used for agriculture, accounting for more than eight-tenths of total consumption. The highest water consumption for cultivation was observed in Central Asia (88%), almost three times higher than in Europe. Household water use in South America is higher than in other parts of the world, at 19%. In Asian and African countries, only 7-9% of water is used for domestic purposes. Finally, industrial water consumption in Asia and Africa ranges from 5% to 12%, which is much lower than in Europe and North America. It is interesting to note that South-East Asia uses more water for manufacturing than Africa, Central Asia and South America each do.
Overall, it can be seen that the western regions used most of their water for the industrial and domestic sectors, while the eastern regions used a lot of water for the agricultural sector.