The pie charts display the figures for different water uses in six areas of the world.
Overall, Africa and Asia use the most water for agriculture, while Western countries, with the exception of South American areas, use the most for industrial purposes. Domestic water use only takes a minor part in the data for these six areas.
Africa, Central Asia, and South-East Asia have similar figures for agricultural use, taking the lion's share at 84%, 88%, and 81%, respectively. The West has lower figures compared to African-Asian areas. South America takes the lead in this region with 71%, followed by North America with 39% and Europe with 32%.
Despite a large amount of water used for agriculture, Africa, Asia, and South America use less water for their industries than North America and Europe, with 7%, 5%–12%, and 10%, respectively. Water use for industrial purposes accounts for more than half of all data in Europe and 48% in North America. Domestic use has higher figures in western areas than in others. While American and European countries use over 13% of their water for this purpose, Africa, Central Asia, and South East Asia use less than 9%.