Water Account, Australia

Water Account, Australia, 2024–25 provides national and state and territory estimates of water supply, use and consumption for 2024–25. This release includes an updated time series extending back to 2014–15 and contains:

• physical supply and use tables
• monetary supply and use tables
• summary indicators
• water productivity and intensity measures.

Water availability across Australia declined in 2024–25, with less rainfall (4.2%) and less accessible water held in major dam storages (9.5%) compared with 2023–24. While conditions varied across states and territories, water availability became more constrained in some regions. These changes provided the backdrop to water supply, use and consumption during the year.

Australia's water supply system continued to adapt to changing conditions. Water utilities supplied more distributed water to households and businesses. Reuse water supplied reached its highest level since 2015–16, while production of desalinated water by the Water supply, sewerage and drainage services industry increased strongly.

Agricultural water use estimates for 2024–25 build on the satellite-based evapotranspiration framework introduced in the previous edition. An interim bridging methodology was applied during a transition in source data inputs. As a result, agricultural water use estimates are not available for the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory, and agricultural surface and groundwater source breakdowns are not published in this release. Further information is provided in the Methodology section.

In 2024–25:

• Total water consumption was relatively stable, increasing 0.1% to 17,163 GL. 
• Total water use decreased 2.2% to 76,957 GL. 

Hydroelectricity generation is the main reason total water use is substantially higher than total water consumption in Australia. Hydroelectricity is a largely non-consumptive use of water, meaning it uses large volumes of water but returns most of that water to the environment. Lower hydroelectricity generation reduced total water use during 2024–25, while having a much smaller effect on water consumption.

Agriculture, forestry and fishing remained Australia's largest water-consuming industry, accounting for around two-thirds of total national water consumption. As a result, movements in national water consumption are often influenced by climatic conditions, particularly rainfall and irrigation demand. Variations in rainfall associated with recent El Niño and La Niña periods have contributed to fluctuations in water consumption over time.

Although national water consumption remained stable, water supply changed more noticeably during 2024–25. Distributed water supplied increased, reuse water supplied reached its highest level since 2015–16, and desalinated water supplied increased strongly. Together, these changes highlight the growing role of climate-independent water sources in Australia's water supply system and demonstrate how utilities adapted to reduced water availability associated with lower rainfall and declining dam storages.

For the first time, industry water prices are presented separately for Agriculture (the Agriculture, forestry and fishing industry) and Non-Agriculture.

In 2024–25:

• Households paid an average of $3.79 per kL, up 2.8% from 2023–24.
• Agriculture paid an average of $0.09 per kL, down 1.0% from 2023–24.
• Non-Agriculture industries paid an average of $1.05 per kL, up 0.8% from 2023–24.

At a national level in 2024–25:

• Water intensity fell slightly from 6.82 ML per $million of GVA to 6.75 ML per $million of GVA.
• Water productivity increased from $0.1468 million of GVA per ML to $0.1485 million of GVA per ML.

Water intensity and water productivity are inverse measures that link environmental and economic information. Together, they provide an indication of the economic value generated relative to water consumption across the Australian economy.

Both indicators moved in a favourable direction in 2024–25 because economic output growth exceeded growth in water consumption. Gross Value Added increased 1.2%, while water consumption increased by only 0.1%.

The Agriculture, forestry and fishing industry accounts for around two-thirds of total water consumption in Australia. As a result, changes in agricultural water use have a strong influence on both water productivity and water intensity.

Average household water use increased 0.8% to 176 kL per household in 2024–25. Warmer and drier conditions in parts of southern Australia increased outdoor water use and contributed to higher water demand.

Despite the increase, household water use remained 7.7% lower than in 2015–16, when households used an average of 190 kL per household. This likely reflects a combination of improved water efficiency, water conservation measures, and changes in housing and household characteristics.

Industry water intensity and average household water use are shown below. These indicators provide additional context for changes in water prices, water use and economic activity.

Total expenditure on distributed water by households and industry increased 3.9% to $12.13 billion in 2024–25, although expenditure varied across sectors:

• Households: $7.24 billion (an increase of 5.6%)
• Agriculture, forestry and fishing: $0.69 billion (an increase of 2.3%)
• All other industries: $3.32 billion (an increase of 4.6%)

Although households use much less distributed water than all industries combined, they contribute the most to total expenditure on water. In 2024–25, households spent almost twice as much as all industries combined ($7.24 billion compared with $4.01 billion). This reflects the higher cost of supplying treated drinking water to households, whereas many industries, particularly the Agriculture, forestry and fishing industry, use large volumes of lower-priced water.

Across Australia, average household water prices increased 2.8% in 2024–25, from $3.68 per kL to $3.79 per kL. 

New South Wales was the only jurisdiction to record a decline in average household water prices in 2024–25, falling 0.4% following a 10% increase in 2023–24. The largest increases from 2023–24 to 2024–25 occurred in:

• Queensland: $5.21 per kL (+6.5%)
• Australian Capital Territory: $3.12 per kL (+6.3%)
• South Australia: $4.00 per kL (+5.9%)
• Western Australia: $3.67 per kL (+4.4%)

Price movements reflected a range of factors, including regulatory decisions, infrastructure investment and operating costs.

The Water supply, sewerage and drainage services industry extracted 12,910 GL of water from the environment in 2024–25, the highest volume since 2014–15 and 3.5% higher than in 2023–24.

Water extraction has fluctuated over the past decade as utilities respond to changes in water availability, demand and urban water supply requirements.

The Water supply, sewerage and drainage services industry sourced water from:

• Surface water: 12,153 GL (94% of total extraction)
• Groundwater: 559 GL (4.3%)
• Sea water for desalination: 199 GL (1.5%)

Surface water remained the dominant source of water extracted by the Water supply, sewerage and drainage services industry, increasing 3.4% in 2024–25. Groundwater extraction also increased (1.9%), while sea water for desalination recorded the strongest growth (16%). Together, these changes reflect greater reliance on climate-independent water sources during a year of lower rainfall and declining dam storages.

The Water supply, sewerage and drainage services industry received 2,301 GL of wastewater in 2024–25.

Once treated, wastewater was either supplied as reuse water or returned to the environment:

• 289 GL of reuse water was supplied to households and industries, an increase of 6.3% from 2023–24.
• 378 GL was returned to the environment, an increase of 1.6% from 2023–24.

Reuse water plays a small but increasingly important role in Australia's water supply system, particularly during periods of reduced water availability.

Note: Wastewater received by the industry is typically greater than the combined volume of reuse water supplied and return flows. This difference reflects treatment losses, including evaporation, as well as water held in storage before release.

Since the previous edition, the following changes have been introduced in the compilation of Water Account, Australia, 2024–25:

Bridging methodology for estimating agricultural irrigation water use

Water use estimates for Agriculture (the Agriculture, forestry and fishing industry) in this release are not directly comparable with previous editions.

The ABS developed an interim bridging methodology to estimate agricultural irrigation water use for 2024–25. The methodology was introduced because updated CSIRO evapotranspiration estimates were not available for the 2024–25 reference year.

The bridging methodology uses previously published CSIRO irrigation estimates as a benchmark and applies water accounting indicators to estimate year-to-year changes in irrigation water use. It supports the production of national and state and territory estimates for 2024–25 but does not replace the underlying CSIRO spatial dataset.

As a result, water use estimates for Agriculture are not available for the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory, and surface and groundwater source breakdowns for Agriculture are not published in this release.

Different methodologies have been used across the time series. Comparisons between 2021–22 and 2022–23, and between 2023–24 and 2024–25, should be interpreted with caution.

Separate Agriculture and Non-Agriculture industry water price indicators

For the first time, this publication includes separate industry water price indicators for:

• Expenditure per kL of water used by industry – Agriculture (the Agriculture, forestry and fishing industry)
• Expenditure per kL of water used by industry – Non-Agriculture

Previously, a single industry price indicator combined Agriculture and Non-Agriculture water use.

The Agriculture industry accounts for a large share of industry water use and typically uses lower-priced non-potable water. As a result, changes in water use by the Agriculture industry can have a strong influence on the overall industry price.

Presenting Agriculture and Non-Agriculture separately provides a clearer picture of the prices paid by different water users. It improves interpretation of price movements over time and supports comparison between non-agricultural industries and households.