Aquastat FAO's Global Information System on Water and Agriculture
SUMMARY
AQUASTAT is the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) global information system on water resources and agricultural water management. It collects, analyzes, and provides free access to over 180 variables and indicators by country and year from 1960. AQUASTAT plays an important role in monitoring of the UN's Sustainable Development Goal 6 that sets out to "ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all". Additionally, AQUASTAT's new dissemination system allows users to download up to 100,000 data points and the data is made available yearly.
The data team uses AQUASTAT for a number of series including SeriesDesalinatedWater, SeriesLandCultivatedArea, and SeriesLandIrWaterLogged to name a few. To pull data, please follow the instructions below.
GENERAL STEPS TO PULL DATA FROM AQUASTAT
Step 1.) Navigate to the home page of AQUASTAT FAO's Global Information System on Water and Agriculture,
Step 2.) Near the top of the page, click on the tab labeled "Database"
Step 3.) On the left hand side of the page, click on the tab labeled "Country Statistics"
Step 4.) On the left hand side of the page, click on the tab labeled "Database", under "Country Statistics"
THIS WILL OPEN A PAGE ON ANOTHER TAB
Step 5.) Under the "Areas" section on the left side, select (World) to select all countries. You can also select different regions.
Step 6.) Under the "Year" section on the left, select each year to see it represented in the data.
Step 7.) To find your specific variable, click which "Variable Group" it is in, then the "Variable Subgroup", and finally your "Variable". You can also start typing your variable name in the "Select Variables" space and it will display that variable and similar ones.
Step 8.) Download the data by clicking "Share/Download". You will then be given download options. Click "Excel". An Excel file will download. Now you can format the data to upload it into IFs. To import data into IFs, please follow the instructions found in the Importing Data (general instructions) page.
SPECIFIC VARIABLE EXAMPLE: SeriesIrrigatedCropIntensity
Step 9.) On the left hand side, under "Year", select desired years of data. This example will use years 2000-2020. "Irrigation and drainage development"
Step 10.) Start typing "Irrigated cropping intensity" into the "Select Variable" box. "Irrigated cropping intensity" will be under variable group "Irrigation and drainage development" and variable subgroup "Irrigated crop area and cropping intensity". Select the variable and a blue check mark will appear.
Step 11.) To select all countries, make sure "World" is selected under "Area".
Step 11.) Data will now populate the page on the right side.
Step 12.) Select "Share/Download" and then select "Excel".
Step 13.) An Excel sheet will download. Now you can format the data to upload it into IFs. To import data into IFs, please follow the instructions found in the Importing Data (general instructions) page
Series pulled from the AQUASTAT
The latest data has been pulled from the report updated on April, 2024 which covers 184 economies. There are 60 series in total, 18 of them used in preprocessors and 42 of them are not in preprocessors.
The "Name in Source" is the "Variable" column in downloaded data.
Preprocessors
| Variable | Definition | Units | Years | Name in Source | UsedInPreprocessor | UsedInPreprocessorFileName |
| WasterwaterTreated | Wastewater: treated volume (10^9 m3/yr) | 10^9 m3/year | 1964-2020 | Treated municipal wastewater | 1 | WATER |
| WastewaterProduced | Wastewater: produced volume (10^9 m3/yr) | 10^9 m3/year | 1964-2020 | Produced municipal wastewater | 1 | WATER |
| WastewaterTreatedReused | Treated wastewater reused (10^9 m3/yr) | 10^9 m3/year | 1964-2020 | Treated municipal wastewater discharged (secondary water) | 1 | WATER |
| WaterDesalinated | Desalinated Water Produced | 10^9 m3/year | 1980-2020 | Desalinated water produced | 1 | WATER |
| WaterGroundWithD | Ground Water Withdrawal | 10^9 m3/year | 1970-2020 | Fresh groundwater withdrawal | 1 | WATER |
| WaterResExploitGround | Exploitable: regular renewable groundwater (10^9 m3/yr) | 10^9 m3/year | 1964-2020 | Exploitable: regular renewable groundwater | 1 | WATER |
| WaterResExploitSurface | Exploitable: total renewable surface water (10^9 m3/yr) | 10^9 m3/year | 1964-2020 | Exploitable: total renewable surface water | 1 | WATER |
| WaterResOverlap | Overlap between surface and groundwater | 10^9 m3/year | 1964-2020 | Overlap between surface water and groundwater | 1 | WATER |
| WaterResTotalExploit | Water resources: total exploitable | 10^9 m3/year | 1964-2020 | Total exploitable water resources | 1 | WATER |
| WaterResTotalRenew | Water resources: total renewable (actual) | 10^9 m3/year | 1964-2020 | Total renewable water resources | 1 | WATER |
| WaterResTotalRenewGround | Total renewable groundwater (actual) (10^9 m3/yr) | 10^9 m3/year | 1964-2020 | Total renewable groundwater | 1 | WATER |
| WaterResTotalRenewSurface | Total renewable suface water (actual) | 10^9 m3/year | 1964-2020 | Total renewable surface water | 1 | WATER |
| WaterSurfaceWithD | Surface Water Withdrawal | 10^9 m3/year | 1970-2020 | Fresh surface water withdrawal | 1 | WATER |
| WaterTotalWithdSector | Total water withdrawal (summed by sector) | 10^9 m3/year | 1964-2020 | Total water withdrawal | 1 | WATER |
| WaterTotalWithdSources | Total water withdrawal (summed by sources) | 10^9 m3/year | 1964-2020 | Total freshwater withdrawal | 1 | WATER |
| WaterWithdAgriculture | Agricultural water withdrawal | 10^9 m3/year | 1965-2020 | Agricultural water withdrawal | 1 | WATER |
| WaterWithdIndustrial | Industrial water withdrawal | 10^9 m3/year | 1965-2020 | Industrial water withdrawal | 1 | WATER |
| WaterWithdMunicipal | Municipal water withdrawal | 10^9 m3/year | 1965-2020 | Municipal water withdrawal | 1 | WATER |
Non-preprocessors
| Variable | Definition | Units | Years | Name in Source |
| DesalinatedWater | Desalinated Water Produced | 10^9 m3/year | 1980-2020 | Desalinated water produced |
| IrWaterReq | Irrigation water requirement | 10^9 m3/year | 1987-2020 | Irrigation water requirement |
| IrWaterWith | Irrigation water withdrawal | 10^9 m3/year | 1970-2020 | Irrigation water withdrawal |
| WasteWaterDirectNotTreated | Direct use of not treated municipal wastewater for irrigation purposes | 10^9 m3/year | 1985-2020 | Direct use of not treated municipal wastewater for irrigation purposes |
| WastewaterIrDirectTreated | Direct use of treated municipal wastewater for irrigation purposes | 10^9 m3/year | 1994-2020 | Direct use of treated municipal wastewater for irrigation purposes |
| WaterGroundEntering | Groundwater entering the country (natural) | 10^9 m3/year | 1964-2020 | Groundwater: entering the country (total) |
| WaterGroundLeaving | Groundwater leaving the country (naturally) | 10^9 m3/year | 1964-2020 | Groundwater: leaving the country to other countries (total) |
| WaterGroundProdInternal | Groundwater produced internally (natural) | 10^9 m3/year | 1964-2020 | Groundwater produced internally |
| WaterGroundTotal | Groundwater total renewable | 10^9 m3/year | 1964-2020 | Total renewable groundwater |
| WaterTotalWithd | Total water withdrawal (summed by sector) | 10^9 m3/year | 1964-2020 | Total water withdrawal |
| LandCultivatedArea | Cultivated area (1000 ha) | 1000 ha | 1964-2020 | Cultivated area (arable land + permanent crops) |
| LandEquipIrActual | Area equipped for irrigation: actually irrigated | 1000 ha | 1964-2020 | Area equipped for irrigation: actually irrigated |
| LandEquipIrFullControl | Area equipped for full control irrigation: total | 1000 ha | 1964-2020 | Area equipped for full control irrigation: total |
| LandEquipIrFullControlActual | Area equipped for full control irrigation: actually irrigated | 1000 ha | 1964-2020 | Area equipped for full control irrigation: actually irrigated |
| LandIrAreaEquip | Area equipped for irrigation: total (1000 ha) | 1000 ha | 1964-2020 | Area equipped for irrigation: total |
| LandIrAreaSalinized | Area salinized by irrigation (1000 ha) | 1000 ha | 1972-2020 | Area salinized by irrigation |
| LandIrEquipActual | Area equipped for irrigation: actually irrigated (1000 ha) | 1000 ha | 1964-2020 | Area equipped for irrigation: actually irrigated |
| LandIrEquipDrained | Area equipped for irrigation drained (1000 ha) | 1000 ha | 1985-2020 | Area equipped for irrigation drained |
| LandIrEquipGround | Area equipped for irrigation by groundwater | 1000 ha | 1964-2020 | Area equipped for irrigation by groundwater |
| LandIrEquipMixed | Area equipped for irrigation by mixed surface water and groundwater | 1000 ha | 1989-2020 | Area equipped for irrigation by mixed surface water and groundwater |
| LandIrEquipSurface | Area equipped for irrigation by surface water | 1000 ha | 1964-2020 | Area equipped for irrigation by surface water |
| LandIrHarvestedCropArea | Total harvested irrigated crop area (1000 ha) | 1000 ha | 1964-2020 | Total harvested irrigated crop area (full control irrigation) |
| LandIrPotential | Irrigation potential (1000 ha) | 1000 ha | 1964-2020 | Irrigation potential |
| LandIrWaterLogged | Area waterlogged by irrigation (1000 ha) | 1000 ha | 1980-2020 | Area waterlogged by irrigation |
| WasteWaterLandEquipDirectNotTreated | Direct use of not treated municipal wastewater for irrigation purposes | 1000 ha | 1972-2020 | Area equipped for irrigation by direct use of not treated municipal wastewater |
| WasteWaterLandEquipDirectTreated | Area equipped for irrigation by direct use of treated municipal wastewater | 1000 ha | 1971-2020 | Area equipped for irrigation by direct use of treated municipal wastewater |
| WaterTotalAgManagedArea | Total agricultural water managed area | 1000 ha | 1964-2020 | Total agricultural water managed area |
| WaterTotalRenewPC | Water resources: total renewable per capita (actual) | Cubic Meter | 1964-2020 | Total renewable water resources per capita |
| WaterTotalWithdPC | Total water withdrawal per capita | Cubic Meter | 1964-2020 | Total water withdrawal per capita |
| TotalDamCapacity | Total dam capacity (km3) | km3 | 1964-2020 | Total dam capacity |
| IrrigatedCropIntensity | Irrigated Crop Intensity | Percent | 1964-2020 | Irrigated cropping intensity |
| LandIr%Grain | % of total grain production irrigated (%) | Percent | 1984-2020 | % of total grain production irrigated |
| LandIrActual%Equip | Area equipped for irrigation: actually irrigated, % | Percent | 1964-2020 | % of the area equipped for irrigation actually irrigated |
| LandIrEquip%Cultivated | % of cultivated area equipped for irrigation (%) | Percent | 1964-2020 | % of the cultivated area equipped for irrigation |
| LandIrEquip%Potential | % of irrigation potential equipped for irrigation (%) | Percent | 1964-2020 | % of irrigation potential equipped for irrigation |
| LandIrEquip%WaterManaged | % of agricultural water managed area equipped for irrigation (%) | Percent | 1964-2020 | % of agricultural water managed area equipped for irrigation |
| WaterDependencyRatio | Dependency ratio, percentage of total renewable water resources originating outside of the country | Percent | 1964-2020 | Dependency ratio |
| WaterWith%Agric | Water withdrawals, percent used in agriculture (1990=70-99;2000=update, mostly 2000) | Percent | 1965-2020 | Agricultural water withdrawal as % of total water withdrawal |
| WaterWith%Fresh | % of total actual renewable freshwater resources withdrawn (%) | Percent | 1964-2020 | MDG 7.5. Freshwater withdrawal as % of total renewable water resources |
| WaterWith%Household | Water withdrawals, percent used by households (1990=70-99;2000=update, mostly 2000) | Percent | 1965-2020 | Municipal water withdrawal as % of total withdrawal |
| WaterWith%Ind | Water withdrawals, percent used in industry (1990=70-99;2000=update, mostly 2000) | Percent | 1965-2020 | Industrial water withdrawal as % of total water withdrawal |
| WaterWithAgr%FreshAquastat | % of total actual renewable water resources withdrawn by agriculture (%) | Percent | 1965-2020 | Agricultural water withdrawal as % of total renewable water resources |