What share of a country’s freshwater withdrawals goes to household, municipal, and service uses rather than agriculture or direct industrial withdrawal? World Bank indicator ER.H2O.FWDM.ZS measures domestic withdrawals as a percentage of total freshwater withdrawal. “Domestic” is broader than household tap water: the definition includes drinking water, municipal use or supply, public services, commercial establishments, and homes.
The latest non-null table contains 180 countries and areas. 178 observations are dated 2022, so the main map and ranking use that common-year subset. Across those 178 observations, the unweighted median is 20.1% and the simple mean is 29.3%. Korea is 24.6%, a little above the cross-country median.
Table of Contents
What counts as domestic freshwater withdrawal
World Bank metadata defines annual freshwater withdrawals as total withdrawals excluding evaporation losses from storage basins. Water from desalination plants can also be included where it is a significant source. Domestic withdrawals include drinking water, municipal use or supply, public services, commercial establishments, and homes. This scope is therefore broader than a household-water-use statistic.
The methodology also notes that domestic water withdrawal is often used in a municipal sense and is commonly based on water withdrawn by the public distribution network. Some industrial use connected to that municipal network can be counted as well. The indicator should not be interpreted as liters consumed per resident or as a pure residential-metering measure.
The 2022 median is 20.1% across 178 observations
The first quartile is 10.5% and the third quartile is 44.6%, so the middle half of the 2022 country/area observations lies roughly between those values. The largest band is 10% to below 20%, with 48 observations, followed by 20% to below 30%, with 30.
| 2022 domestic/municipal share | Countries/areas | Share of 178 |
|---|---|---|
| Below 5% | 17 | 9.6% |
| 5% to <10% | 23 | 12.9% |
| 10% to <20% | 48 | 27.0% |
| 20% to <30% | 30 | 16.9% |
| 30% to <50% | 23 | 12.9% |
| 50% to <75% | 26 | 14.6% |
| 75% to <100% | 9 | 5.1% |
| 100% or more | 2 | 1.1% |
A high share is not the same as high water use
| Country/area | Domestic/municipal share in 2022 |
|---|---|
| Brunei Darussalam | 164.7% |
| Monaco | 100.0% |
| St. Vincent and the Grenadines | 100.0% |
| St. Kitts and Nevis | 98.7% |
| Dominica | 95.0% |
| Maldives | 94.9% |
| Luxembourg | 91.2% |
| Grenada | 85.1% |
| Djibouti | 84.2% |
| Central African Republic | 82.9% |
Several small island or city-oriented economies appear near the top, along with the United Kingdom at about 74.0%. The table does not rank countries by the absolute amount of water withdrawn. A country with relatively little agricultural withdrawal can have a high domestic share even if its total withdrawal volume is modest. Conversely, a country with very large irrigation withdrawals can show a low domestic percentage even when municipal water use is substantial in absolute terms.
Brunei Darussalam is an important source-data caution: the 2022 value in the World Bank series is 164.7%. The observation is retained rather than silently capped at 100%. World Bank methodology describes domestic withdrawal as a municipal/public-distribution concept that can include multiple water sources, including desalinated or treated water. That means this indicator should not automatically be treated as a perfectly closed three-sector budget. A value above 100% should be treated as an outlying source observation that merits separate checking rather than as a literal claim that 164.7% of one fixed total was used by households.
A low share does not prove poor household water access
| Country/area | Domestic/municipal share in 2022 |
|---|---|
| Somalia, Fed. Rep. | 0.5% |
| Afghanistan | 1.0% |
| Austria | 1.5% |
| Viet Nam | 1.5% |
| Nepal | 1.6% |
| Lao PDR | 1.8% |
| Mali | 2.1% |
| Turkmenistan | 2.6% |
| Madagascar | 2.9% |
| Kyrgyz Republic | 2.9% |
Somalia, Afghanistan, Viet Nam, Nepal, Lao PDR and several other economies have low domestic shares. That does not by itself show that residents lack water services. The denominator is total freshwater withdrawal, so countries with very large irrigation demand can produce low domestic percentages even when municipal systems withdraw meaningful volumes. Access to basic or safely managed drinking water must be evaluated with separate service-access indicators.
Korea and selected large economies on the same 2022 basis
| Country | Year | Domestic/municipal share of total freshwater withdrawal |
|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom | 2022 | 74.0% |
| Germany | 2022 | 41.5% |
| Korea, Rep. | 2022 | 24.6% |
| Brazil | 2022 | 24.1% |
| France | 2022 | 21.6% |
| China | 2022 | 20.1% |
| Japan | 2022 | 17.0% |
| Australia | 2022 | 14.5% |
| United States | 2022 | 13.1% |
| India | 2022 | 7.4% |
| Saudi Arabia | 2022 | 13.1% |
| United Arab Emirates | 2022 | 47.7% |
Korea is 24.6%, compared with China at 20.1%, Japan at 17.0%, Australia at 14.5%, the United States at 13.1%, and India at 7.4%. Germany is 41.5%, France 21.6%, Brazil 24.1%, and the United Kingdom 74.0%. Those differences should not be attributed to household conservation behavior alone. Agricultural and industrial withdrawal structures, urbanization, the scope of public distribution networks, and water-source accounting all affect the ratio.
This is why the indicator is best used to describe the composition of withdrawals. It tells us how prominent the domestic/municipal sector is within total freshwater withdrawal, not which population “uses the most water” in an everyday sense.
This is not a water-stress, drinking-water-access, or per-capita-use indicator
ER.H2O.FWDM.ZS answers a sector-share question. It does not directly measure how much renewable water is available, what share of renewable resources is being withdrawn, how many liters a person uses, or whether households have safely managed drinking water. Those questions require different denominators and different datasets.
A country can have a high domestic share and still face very different water-resource conditions from another country with the same percentage. Likewise, a low domestic share can reflect a large agricultural sector rather than low municipal demand. For broader water-resource analysis, this series is more useful when paired with total withdrawals, renewable internal freshwater resources, water-stress measures, and the agriculture and industry shares of withdrawal.
178 latest observations are from 2022; two are from 2021
The complete latest-value table has 180 rows, but it is not perfectly synchronized. Israel and West Bank and Gaza use 2021 observations; the other 178 rows are dated 2022. The headline map, median, mean, bands, and rankings therefore use only the 178 observations from 2022. The two older rows remain useful as latest-available values but are not relabeled or inserted into the 2022 comparison.
| Country/area | Latest observation year | Domestic/municipal share |
|---|---|---|
| Israel | 2021 | 38.2% |
| West Bank and Gaza | 2021 | 56.4% |
Data source and mapping method
Definitions and country values were checked against the World Bank World Development Indicators metadata for ER.H2O.FWDM.ZS and the World Bank indicator page. The World Bank identifies FAO AQUASTAT as the underlying source.
The main map and descriptive statistics use only the 178 numeric observations dated 2022. Missing observations are not converted to zero, and the two 2021 rows are not presented as 2022. The mean and median are unweighted across country and area observations; they are not weighted by population or withdrawal volume. Gray or unmapped places therefore indicate no retained 2022 value or no directly represented geometry at this map scale, not a 0% share.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does domestic freshwater withdrawal mean household water only?
No. The World Bank definition includes drinking water, municipal use or supply, public services, commercial establishments, and homes. Some industrial use connected to municipal distribution can also be included.
What is Korea’s 2022 domestic freshwater withdrawal share?
The World Bank ER.H2O.FWDM.ZS observation for the Republic of Korea is about 24.6% in 2022.
Does a high domestic share mean a country has severe water stress?
No. The indicator measures the domestic/municipal share of total freshwater withdrawal. Water stress requires a separate measure comparing withdrawals with available freshwater resources.
Why are only 178 observations used for the 2022 ranking?
The latest-value table has 180 rows, but Israel and West Bank and Gaza are dated 2021. The main comparison uses the 178 rows dated 2022 to avoid mixing reference years.
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