Water scarcity can reduce crop yields, undermining efforts to promote food security. Irrigated agriculture accounts for 69% of global freshwater withdrawals and is one of the leading drivers of the increased demand for freshwater use. Increasing the efficiency of agricultural water use can minimize the gap between water withdrawals and water demand, helping to alleviate water scarcity. This indicator calculates the value added in US dollars per volume of water used in cubic meters by the agricultural sector over time. Even after correcting for inflation, global average irrigated water use efficiency has doubled between 2000 and 2020. 

Water scarcity can reduce crop yields, undermining efforts to promote food security. Irrigated agriculture accounts for 69% of global freshwater withdrawals and is one of the leading drivers of the increased demand for freshwater use. Increasing the efficiency of agricultural water use can minimize the gap between water withdrawals and water demand, helping to alleviate water scarcity. This indicator calculates the value added in US dollars per volume of water used in cubic meters by the agricultural sector over time. Even after correcting for inflation, global average irrigated water use efficiency has doubled between 2000 and 2020.