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Data

The importance of water in economic activities

  • World Environment Day was celebrated on June 5, a timely reminder of the importance of water to the Brazilian economy. The data below are based on the third Environmental and economic water accounts: Brazil 2018–2020 report, published by the IBGE in 2023 in partnership with Brazil’s National Water and Sanitation Agency. The report’s objective was to produce and publicize information about the demand and availability of water resources in the Brazilian economy
  • In 2020, 4.1 million cubic hectometers (hm3) of water were removed from the environment for use in the economic system in Brazil. Energy and gas activities captured the most water (85.1%), but rather than being consumed, the water was used to move turbines that generate electricity, and was then returned to nature. Rainwater collection activities also do not consume captured water
  • Excluding these two activities leaves 14% of economic activities that consume the water they capture. The sectors that consume the most captured water are agriculture, livestock, forest production, fishing, and aquaculture (95.2%); and water collection, treatment, and distribution (3.5%). The consumed water is always returned to nature in one way or another, but often modified to such an extent that its reuse requires major treatment
  • In the case of agriculture, livestock, forest production, fishing, and aquaculture, 92.4% of the water captured in 2020 came from the soil, used mainly for non-irrigated agriculture. These activities also removed more surface and groundwater than any other, accounting for 58.2% of the 71,200 hm3 directly captured that year, followed by water collection, treatment, and distribution (27.9%) and conversion and construction industries (8.4%)
  • From a regional perspective, the Southeast was the region that contributed most to the total water capture. The Central-West also had a notable impact, reflecting the importance of agricultural activities in the region
  • The economic importance of water can also be seen in the water consumption intensity indicator, which shows the volume of water consumed (in liters) for each Real of gross value added (GVA) generated by the economic activities. In this regard, the study shows that in 2020, 6.2 liters of water were consumed for each Real of GVA generated by the Brazilian economy (ignoring soil water)

Source Contas Econômicas Ambientais da Água: Brasil 2018-2020 (IBGE, 2023). Prepared by the FAPESP, DPCTA, Planning, Studies, and Indicators Team

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