The charts compare how water is used for agricultural, industrial and domestic purposes in six different regions of the world. Overall, agriculture accounts for the largest proportion of water consumption in most areas, while industrial use dominates only in North America and Europe.
Agricultural consumption is particularly high in developing regions. Central Asia and Africa allocate the greatest shares to farming, at 88% and 84% respectively. South East Asia follows closely with 81%, while South America also uses a considerable proportion of its water for agriculture, at 71%. In contrast, the figures for North America and Europe are much lower, at 39% and 32%.
Industrial usage shows the opposite trend. It is the main water consumer in Europe (53%) and North America (48%), but remains relatively low elsewhere. South America uses just 10% of its water for industry, compared with 7% in both Africa and South East Asia, and only 5% in Central Asia.
Domestic use is lowest across all regions but is slightly more significant in South America (19%) and Europe (15%). The remaining areas show similar domestic shares, ranging from 7% to 13%.