The line graph illustrates global water consumption in agriculture, industry and domestic use between 1900 and 2000, while the table compares population, per-capita water use and irrigated land area in Brazil and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
Overall, agriculture remained the dominant consumer of water, with usage rising considerably throughout the century. Brazil also recorded markedly higher per-capita water consumption and a larger irrigated area than the DRC.
In 1900, agricultural water use stood at approximately 500 km³, before climbing dramatically to around 3,000 km³ in 2000. Industrial and domestic usage initially remained relatively low, at about 50 km³. From approximately 1950 onwards, industrial consumption increased steadily, reaching just over 1,000 km³ by the end of the period. Meanwhile, domestic water use followed a more gradual upward trend, finishing at roughly 300 km³.
Regarding the countries, Brazil had 176 million inhabitants and 26,500 km² of irrigated land, with per-capita consumption of 359 m³. By contrast, the DRC had 5.2 million people, only 100 km² of irrigated land and per-capita usage of just 8 m³.