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Water consumption is growing twice as fast as the world's population
Last reviewed: 30.06.2025
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The role that oil played in the 20th century will be taken over by water in the 21st century.
Kirsty Jenkinson and her colleagues from the World Resources Institute (USA) calculated that in the twentieth century, water use grew twice as fast as the planet's population.
Scientists predict that between 2007 and 2025, water consumption will increase by 50% in developing countries and by 18% in rich countries as rural residents in developing countries increasingly move to cities.
Will there be enough water for everyone when the planet's population reaches nine billion? "There is a lot of water on Earth," says Rob Rennet, executive director of the Water Research Foundation in the United States. "The problem is that 97.5 percent of it is salt water, and two-thirds of the fresh water is frozen."
Today, about a billion people lack access to clean drinking water, and two billion live in poor sanitation, resulting in about 5 million deaths each year from water-related diseases, mostly children. Only 8% of the Earth's fresh water is consumed. About 70% is used for irrigation and 22% for industrial purposes.
A catastrophic reduction in rainfall and water pollution will cause rivers to lose their current importance. According to the World Resources Institute, the following river basins will suffer the most: Murray-Darling (Australia), Colorado (USA), Orange (South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, Lesotho), Yangtze-Yuanhe (China).
Frequent water shortages are already taking their toll on the economy. For example, clothing company Gap cut its profit forecast by 22% after drought in Texas cotton fields. Shares of gas supplier Toreador Resources fell by 20% after France stopped shale gas production because of the likely impact on water quality. Giants Kraft Foods, Sara Lee and Nestle are planning to raise prices to compensate for increased raw material costs due to frequent droughts.
There is only one way out of this situation - more efficient use of water. For example, one large-scale study showed that agriculture in large basins of Africa, Asia and South America could double its productivity if it learned to use the water it already has efficiently.