Erick Burgueño Salas
Research expert covering climate change and the water industry
Global water industry - statistics & facts
The global water industry is one of the most critical sectors in the world. It not only provides drinking water and wastewater services to the global population but also supplies the industrial and agricultural sectors. Pressure on the water industry is however expected to increase in the coming years as climate change shrinks water availability worldwide while populations continue to grow.
Which sectors consume the most water?
Agriculture is the sector with the highest water consumption worldwide. Such activities alone account for almost three-quarters of global water withdrawals. The only continent in which agriculture is not the main water consumer is Europe, where industrial activities hoard most of the water withdrawals with approximately 45 percent of the total.Wastewater treatment
Wastewater treatment is the process of removing contaminants from wastewater (sewage) before returning the remaining water safely back into the environment. Despite the importance of wastewater treatment, just 57.8 percent of the world’s domestic wastewater flow was treated safely in 2022. In Sub-Saharan Africa and Central and Southern Asia, less than 30 percent of the population had access to this service . In comparison, wastewater treatment was far more common in Europe, Northern America, Australia, and New Zealand. Households in these regions were also far more likely to have access to sewer connections than on-site systems like septic tanks. Although the share of people worldwide with sewer connections and on-site systems was similar in 2022, those living in urban locations were twice as likely to have sewer connections than on-site systems. Rural areas still relied heavily on septic tanks and latrines.Drinking water supplies
Much like wastewater treatment, access to safe drinking water is considerably higher in developed regions. Meanwhile, access to safely managed drinking water is lowest in regions such as Sub-Saharan Africa. Nevertheless, clean drinking water cannot always be taken for granted, even in developed countries. In the United States, for instance, high concentrations of PFAS (forever chemicals) have been found in water supplies in several major metropolitan areas. This has exposed millions of people to harmful chemicals, raising concerns about the country’s aging and underfunded water infrastructure.
