Brazilian economy consumes 6 liters of water per each R$1 produced
March 16, 2018 10h00 AM | Last Updated: March 22, 2018 01h35 PM
For each R$1 generated by the Brazilian economy, in 2015, an average of six liters of water was consumed. Due to activities such as irrigation, the agricultural sector had the highest water demand in terms of income generation: 91.58 liters of water for each Real produced. In the Manufacturing and construction industries, the proportional consumption was 3.72 liters/R$ and Mining and quarrying industries, 2.54 liters/R$.
In terms of total consumption of this resource, the volume reached 30.6 billions of cubic mters in Brazil in the same period. The economic activities that registered the highest consumption were Agriculture, forestry, fishing and aquaculture (77.6% of the total); Manufacturing and construction industry (11.3%); and Water and sewage (7.4%).
This information is found the publication Environmental-Economic Accountings for Water (CEAA), released today by the IBGE. Among other indicators, the study - first of its kind in Brazil - also showed water use and expenditure by households, the main users of natural water.
From 2013 to 2015, there was a 4.3% drop in the use of natural water by households and an increase of 8.8% in the expenditures. In 2015, household water use per capita was 108.4 liters/day and the average volume of water used was R$2.35/m³.
On Water Accounts
The Environmental-
"Studies like this provide information to government officials, universities and civil society so that everyone can think about how to use water more efficiently. Because this natural good, depending on its use, can be extinguished ", comments the analyst of the Department of National Accounts of the IBGE, Michel Lapip.
The CEAA is in line with the international mehodology developed by the United Nations Statistics Division. And Brazil was one of the first countries to carry ouyt this project.
"We intend to continue developing the water accountings and also to do other environmental accounts. We will start by looking at energy, forests and ecosystems," says IBGE National Accounts Coordinator, Rebeca Palis.
The Environmental Economic Accountings for Water are the result of a cooperation between the IBGE, the National Water Agency (ANA) and the Secretariat of Water Resources and Environmental Quality of the Ministry of the Environment (SRHQ/MMA), with the technical support of the Biodiversity Secretariat (SBIO) of the MMA and the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH.
