Water footprints of nations: water use by people as a function of their consumption pattern

Databases on water use traditionally show three columns of water use: water withdrawals in the domestic, agricultural and industrial sector respectively ( FAO, 2003a ; Gleick, 1993 ; Shiklomanov, 2000 ), A water expert being asked to assess the water demand in a particular country will generally add the water withdrawals for the different sectors of the economy. Although useful information, this does not tell much about the water actually needed by the people in the country in relation to their consumption pattern. The fact is that many goods consumed by the inhabitants of a country are produced in other countries, which means that it can happen that the real water demand of a population is much higher than the national water withdrawals do suggest The reverse can be the case as well: national water withdrawals are substantial, but a large amount of the products are being exported for consumption elsewhere.