Figure 5. Change in water-use efficiency between 2015 and 2018

Notes: Water-use efficiency changes: increase = by more than 1 percent; slight increase = by 0.5–1 percent; decrease = by more than 1 percent; no change = increase/decrease by less than 0.5 percent.

Source: FAO IMI-SDG6 elaboration based on FAO. 2021. The source of the international country boundaries is UNmap. 2018.

3.2.1. Water data

As Figure 6 shows, there were some changes in water withdrawals made by the main sectors between 2006 and 2018. For example, the industrial sector in developed countries such as Switzerland increased its water demand (where previously the services sector had the largest water demand), with services becoming the most water-demanding sector in Latvia and Lithuania (shifting from agriculture, which previously had the largest demand). Nevertheless, agriculture continues to have the largest demand in most countries, with notable exceptions in developed countries of the northern hemisphere and sub-Saharan developing countries, where most water withdrawals come from the services sector, but show low safely managed coverage levels of water supply (World Health Organization [WHO]/ United Nations Children’s Programme [UNICEF] Joint Monitoring Programme [JMP], n.d.).