Published 2026-05-10 · data 2022 · percent of irrigated water use

Irrigation uses most withdrawn water

Dams and pumps turn deserts into breadbaskets — at a water cost.

Food is a water product. Irrigation uses most of the water humanity withdraws, and FAO's 2022 accounting shows where it goes: 85% of irrigated water use to irrigated agriculture — the dams and pumps that turn deserts into breadbaskets — and 15% to other irrigated uses. The stakes are the food supply itself, and the aquifers it draws on.

1 cell = 0.1 percent of irrigated water use (0.1% of irrigation withdrawals) · 1,000 cells

Context

The grid divides irrigated water use into two bands: irrigated agriculture, which claims 85%, and other irrigated uses, which account for the remaining 15%. The figures come from FAO's land and water overview, with 2022 as the reference year.

FAO's framing is blunt: irrigation dominates consumptive water use in agriculture. Consumptive use means water that does not flow back after use — it leaves as crop growth and evaporation — which is why this 85% share is the number to watch when weighing food production against water scarcity.

FAO: irrigation dominates consumptive water use in agriculture.