Freshwater abstraction (surface and groundwater)

Freshwater abstraction is the water taken from surface sources and from underground. The chart shows both, in million cubic metres a year, for each year from 2000 to 2024.

In 2024, 3,314 million cubic metres were taken: 2,082.2 from surface water and 1,231.8 from groundwater. The total is the highest in the period shown. The lowest was 1,725.7 in 2001.

Surface water was the larger source in every year. In 2024 it was 2,082.2, up from 1,541.1 in 2023 and the second highest value in the period, after 2,154.1 in 2007. Groundwater rose from 533 in 2000 to a peak of 1,455.9 in 2021, and was 1,231.8 in 2024, down from 1,376.5 in 2023.