In 2022, economic sectors and households extracted nearly 66,886 million m³ of water from the environment. Most of the water extracted was soil water, which accounted for 66%, followed by surface water (19%) and groundwater (11%). In this context, soil water is the water arable crops withdraw from the soil in order to grow. Irrigation water is not included here. Besides agriculture, the energy supply sector plays a major role, accounting for about half of total surface water abstraction (6,582 million m³). Public water utilities extracted the most groundwater (3,756 million m³).
Compared with 2019, total water abstraction fell by 6%, with precipitation water showing the largest decline (19%), followed by surface water (16%). The decline in surface water extraction can mainly be attributed to the energy supply sector, where extraction was 25% lower in 2022 (6,582 million m³) than in 2019 (8,786 million m³). In 2022, public water utilities accounted for roughly 51% of groundwater abstraction and distributed the water to economic sectors and households. The volume of groundwater extracted was nearly the same in 2022 (3,756 million m³) as in 2019 (3,779 million m³).
Most of the water abstracted in 2022 was used for production purposes (75%), with agriculture accounting for the largest share of around 44,380 million m³ for the cultivation of arable plants. The manufacturing sector also used large quantities of water for production (1,121 million m³). Another major use is for cooling purposes (10,883 million m³), with the energy supply sector using 60% of cooling water for its activities.
Most of the water returned to the environment is released as vapour (70 %) into the atmosphere, mainly through transpiration (44,654 million m³) and to a lesser extent through evaporation (917 million m³). Economic sectors and households generated 18,269 million m³ of waste water, which was mostly discharged into surface water bodies. About 60% of the waste water was not treated, mainly because of the large quantities used as cooling water by the energy supply sector.
Further information:
Further results can be found in the statistical report "Umweltökonomische Gesamtrechnungen - Wassergesamtrechnung" (only available in German) and on the website of the Federal Statistical Office under the heading "raw materials, material flows, water".