North Africa
Where freshwater withdrawals go in four North African economies
Agriculture accounted for the largest share of recorded freshwater withdrawals in Algeria, Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia in 2022. The share ranged from 67.43% in Algeria to 87.78% in Morocco. The four countries also withdrew markedly different volumes of water.
Sources checked
Natural Earth land outlines and dashed land boundaries.
Switch between sector shares and total volume. Pin positions identify countries through their capitals.
Agriculture dominated the recorded split
In 2022, the agricultural share was 87.78% in Morocco, 79.16% in Egypt, 75.54% in Tunisia and 67.43% in Algeria. The denominator is total freshwater withdrawals within each country. The sector includes irrigation and water for livestock, so the series covers a wider range of farm uses than irrigation alone. Source 2 Source 5
Egypt had the largest total withdrawal in the group
Egypt recorded 77.50 billion cubic metres, compared with 10.57 billion in Morocco, 10.29 billion in Algeria and 3.86 billion in Tunisia. Egypt’s agricultural share was smaller than Morocco’s, while its total withdrawal was more than seven times larger. The share and the physical volume answer different questions about the distribution of water. Source 1 Source 2
Algeria had the largest domestic share
Domestic uses accounted for 30.92% of Algeria’s 2022 withdrawals, compared with 22.73% in Tunisia, 13.87% in Egypt and 10.19% in Morocco. This category includes municipal supply and withdrawals for homes, public services and commercial establishments. Industry, a separate category that includes cooling for thermoelectric plants, ranged from 1.65% in Algeria to 6.97% in Egypt. Source 3 Source 4 Source 5
A repeated observation carries limited information about annual change
Morocco’s recorded total is 10.57 billion cubic metres throughout 2010 to 2022 in this series, and Egypt’s total is 77.50 billion every year from 2017 to 2022. The displayed history preserves those repetitions. Identical values in consecutive records should be interpreted alongside the original reporting cycle. The dataset gives withdrawals and does not measure the share of available resources used. Source 1 Source 5
Sources
- FAO AQUASTAT via World Bank, total freshwater withdrawals
- FAO AQUASTAT via World Bank, agricultural withdrawals
- FAO AQUASTAT via World Bank, domestic withdrawals
- FAO AQUASTAT via World Bank, industrial withdrawals
- World Bank metadata, freshwater withdrawal scope and sector definitions
- World Bank economy metadata, capital city coordinates