The Countries That Use the Most Freshwater – Does Indonesia Feature?
Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia - The majority of the world’s freshwater is not used in homes. It is used to grow crops, cool power plants, and support industry.
CNBC Indonesia has compiled a list of countries based on annual per capita freshwater withdrawal, citing data from FAO AQUASTAT and the UN, along with population figures from the World Bank. The figures include water used for agriculture, industry, and urban systems.
Some of the results are surprising. Turkmenistan ranks first by a significant margin due to its large-scale irrigation systems associated with cotton farming, while Montenegro ranks second due to its intensive water use relative to its population size. The United States also makes it into the global top five.
Turkmenistan ranks first, with 128,228 cubic feet of water withdrawn per person. The country’s vast irrigation network was built to support cotton farming in one of the driest regions of Central Asia.
The Soviet-era canals divert water from the Amu Darya River to arid agricultural lands. This same diversion has contributed to the dramatic shrinking of the Aral Sea.
Agriculture accounts for about 70% of global freshwater withdrawals worldwide. This helps explain why many of the top-ranked countries are located in arid or semi-arid regions with large irrigation needs. Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Iran all rank among the top 15.
In these countries, water demand is often shaped by crop production and river diversion systems. Per capita figures can increase sharply when large irrigation networks are spread across a relatively small population.
The United States ranks fifth, while Canada and Estonia also make it into the top 20. In these countries, high water withdrawals may reflect industrial activity and power plant cooling.
This type of water use differs from household consumption. Much of the water withdrawn for cooling may eventually be returned to rivers or lakes, but it still puts pressure on local water systems.
The per capita ranking can increase rapidly in small countries when large irrigation or industrial systems are divided among a small number of people.
For example, Montenegro, with a population of 627,702, ranks second with 125,155 cubic feet per person. New Zealand ranks third with 68,652 cubic feet per person, followed by Guyana with 61,907 cubic feet per person.
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