Page - 7 - in Water, Energy, and Environment - A Primer

two-thirdsofglobalwaterwithdrawals (70%)are for agriculture, while 20% are for industrial use and 10% for municipal use. In developing countries the percentage of water used for agriculture is evenhigher. Figure 1.2 shows historic and projectedworldwater demand from1980 to2030. It shows that current annualwithdrawals are of the order of 5000km3, or about 30% of the estimated 14,000km3of easily accessible freshwater. Thus, in theory there isenoughfreshwater tomeetnotonly the current demand, basedonapopulationof just over 7billion, but also an increasing demand from a future population that may reach 9–10 billion by 2050. A related consideration is that ‘the world’s middle class is expected to grow from less than 2 billion in 2014 to nearly 4.9 billion by 2030, with even more growth by 2050. As this more affluent population increases, demand for water will surge – not least owing to a greater Figure1.2 Historicandprojectedwaterdemand (cubickilometres) (6). Waterand itsglobal context 7