EU Self-Supplied Water Use by Economic Sector

Key Takeaways

• Industry and construction account for 88% to 99% of self-supplied water in 10 of the 14 EU countries with sector data. Estonia’s share is 99.3%. It is driven almost entirely by oil shale electricity production.
• Denmark and Greece are the only two countries where agriculture accounts for more than 80% of self-supplied water, at 87.7% and 83.4% respectively.
• Lithuania is the only country where industry, services, and agriculture each hold a substantial share, at 37%, 36%, and 27%, respectively.
• Lithuania’s self-supply fell 92% between 2002 and 2022, from 3,006 Mm³ to 232 Mm³. Industrial restructuring following the Soviet period drove the decline.

Self-Supplied Water Use by Sector in EU Countries

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In 10 of the 14 EU countries with sector data, industry and construction account for more than 88% of all water abstracted directly from natural sources. The share reaches 99% in two of them. Agriculture and services together account for a fraction of what remains.

Self-supplied water is water abstracted directly from rivers, lakes, or groundwater. It is not drawn from a public distribution network. Large industrial operations, power generation facilities, and farms with high volume needs typically abstract this way.

Why Industry Dominates Self-Supplied Water Use in the EU

Estonia draws 99.3% of its self-supplied water for industry. Estonia generates approximately 95% of its electricity from oil shale. Oil shale combustion requires large volumes of cooling water. Most of that water comes from direct abstraction rather than the public network.

Germany has the largest total volume in this dataset. Its industry sector draws 11,730 Mm³. That figure accounts for 95.5% of Germany’s national total of 12,298 Mm³. Thermal and nuclear power plants use river and lake water for cooling. Manufacturing accounts for a much smaller share of Germany’s industrial self-supply.

Power generation explains the pattern. Electricity production requires constant, large-volume water access for cooling. Public distribution networks do not supply water at that scale.

Where Agriculture Leads EU Self-Supplied Water Use

Denmark and Greece are the only two countries in this dataset where agriculture accounts for more than 80% of self-supplied water.

Agriculture accounts for 5,926 Mm³ of Greek self-supply. That represents 83.4% of its national total. Approximately 80% of agricultural water in Greece goes to crop irrigation. Southern European climates require intensive irrigation to sustain farming at scale.

Denmark also draws most of its self-supply for agriculture. Agriculture accounts for 87.7% of Denmark’s total self-supply. Denmark’s total is 594 Mm³.

Lithuania’s Sector Split and Decline in Self-Supplied Water

Lithuania is the only country where industry, services, and agriculture each hold a substantial share. Industry draws 37.1%, services draw 35.9%, and agriculture draws 27.0%.

Lithuania also shows the sharpest decline in total self-supply over time. It abstracted 3,006 Mm³ in 2002. By 2022, that figure had fallen to 232 Mm³. The reduction amounts to 92%. Industrial restructuring across Eastern Europe following the Soviet period drove steep declines in water abstraction for electricity generation during the 2000s and 2010s. Heavy industrial facilities that required large cooling volumes closed or contracted significantly during that period.

Self-supply is not a measure of which sectors consume the most water overall. It reflects which sectors cannot rely on public networks to meet their volume and continuity needs. Power generation and large-scale irrigation share that requirement.