The regionalised water exploitation index (WEI+) measures total water consumption as a percentage of the renewable freshwater resources available for a given territory and period. It quantifies how much water is abstracted monthly or seasonally and how much water is returned before or after use to the environment via river basins (e.g. leakages, discharges by economic sectors). The difference between water abstractions and water returns is regarded as ‘water consumption’. In the absence of Europe-wide agreed formal targets, values above 20 % are generally considered to be a sign of water scarcity, while values equal or greater than 40 % indicate situations of severe water scarcity, meaning the use of freshwater resources is unsustainable.

• Source/link:
  View web page
• Unit:
  % of long term annual average water (LTAA)
• Data type:
  Statistics
• Geographical scope:
  EU
• Frequency of data aggregation:
  Annual
• Time coverage (from year):
  2000
• Time coverage (to year):
  2021
• Available for download in xls/csv:
  YES
• Can be disclosed in other formats:
  NO
• Interactive map/graph available:
  YES