RIYADH — Agricultural consumption of non-renewable groundwater recorded a decrease of 7 percent during the year 2023, reaching 9.356 million cubic meters compared to 2022, according to the Water Accounts Bulletin for the year 2023, issued on Sunday by the General Authority for Statistics (GASTAT).

The report showed that the extracted renewable groundwater constituted 21 percent of the total extracted groundwater in 2023, and extracted non-renewable groundwater recorded a decrease of six percent, reaching 1.849 million cubic meters in 2023, while the produced desalinated water constituted 50 percent of the amount of water distributed for the year 2023 compared to 44 percent in 2022.

The results of the bulletin showed that water consumption for agricultural purposes in 2023 amounted to 12.298 million cubic meters, and the percentage of agricultural sector spending constituted 0.5 percent of the total spending on the water used, while the percentage of spending on water used in the industrial sector stood at 61.4 percent and the percentage of household spending on water used was 38.1 percent.

The results of the bulletin showed an increase in the quantity of desalinated seawater supplies in 2023 by 31 percent, reaching 3.785 million cubic meters for the year 2023, and desalinated seawater constitutes 22 percent of the total water supplies from natural resources, while non-renewable groundwater constituted 62 percent of the water supplies from natural resources in 2023. The consumption of reused water also increased by 12 percent to reach 555 million cubic meters compared to 495 million cubic meters in 2022.

It is noteworthy that the Water Accounts Bulletin provides quantitative and monetary data on water at the national level of the Kingdom and is based on the National Classification of Economic Activities ISIC4 and the System of Environmental-Economic Accounting and the International Central Framework (SEEA - Central Framework 2012).

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