The line graph illustrates water consumption per person in two countries and global water use by sector. Overall, global water use increased over time, with the agriculture sector showing the largest growth, while domestic use remained the sector with the least growth over the century.
There was a sharp rise in the agriculture sector from 1990 to 1995, followed by a decrease in 1970. After a slight decline, agricultural water use reached its highest point of 3,000 km square in 2000. Industrial use also showed a noticeable increase, rising from approximately 300 km square in 1940 to roughly 1,000 km square in 2000. Meanwhile, domestic use increased more slowly, from about 100 km to nearly 400 km square over the same period.
In Brazil, where the population is 33 times larger than in Democratic Republic of Congo, people consume 359 m cube of water per person, which is almost 45 times higher than in Congo, where per capita consumption is only 8 m cube. Additionally, irrigated land in Congo is only 100 km square, compared to 26,500 km square in Brazil.