The table compares the percentage distribution of water usage across agricultural, industrial and domestic sectors in six countries in 2003. Overall, agriculture accounted for the largest share of water consumption in four of six countries whereas domestic consumption dominated in Canada and Australia. In contrast, industrial use constituted the smallest share in most countries.
Looking first at agriculture, the UK recorded the highest figure at 90%, closely followed by China at 87% and India at 82%. Japan allocated 66% of its water supply to farming, twice as high as Australia at 33%. Only 5% of water used for agriculture in Canada, making it the lowest figure among six countries.
Moving on to domestic water use, Australia ranked first at 65%, slightly higher than Canada at 63%. Japan and India stood out at 19% and 10%, whilst the figure for the UK and China, water consumption was minimal at only 5% and 6%.
Industrial water use peaked in Canada at 32% in this category. Japan followed at 15%, while India, China and the UK accounted for 8%, 7% and 5% respectively. Australia had the lowest at 2%.