Footprints of the German bioeconomy

History and trend

Figure 1: Development of Germany's water footprint by crop class

Figure 1: Development of Germany's water footprint by crop class.

Looking at the irrigation effort for the different crops consumed in Germany since 1995, two trends stand out.

  • The water footprint of the cotton consumed in Germany has decreased significantly. This is due to a sharp decline in imports and an increasing share of imports from reference regions with lower water use per quantity of cotton produced.
    Exploring the data in the Data Explorer
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It is expected, due to changing consumption patterns, that from 2020 to 2030 a decreasing trend will start for most crops, leading to reductions of 22% (rice, vegetables, fruits and nuts) up to 35% (oil palm products). Trends from 2020 suggest increasing water footprints for cotton (+40%) and other fiber crops (+3%).

Water stress

To assess the water stress level in the respective region (catchment), water withdrawals from surface water or from groundwater (so-called "blue water") for households, industry and livestock were considered, in addition to irrigation water. Water withdrawals were set in relation to water availability in the respective region ("withdrawal-to-availability" relation = wta):*

  • If wta is less than 0.2, no water stress is present,
  • if wta is between 0.2 and 0.4, a medium water stress situation is assumed,
  • and if wta is equal to or greater than 0.4 (i.e. 40% of available water or more is withdrawn), high water stress must be assumed.