Water withdrawals, or water abstractions, is freshwater taken from ground or surface water sources, either permanently or temporarily, and conveyed to a place of use.

Data include abstractions for public water supply, irrigation, industrial processes, mine water, drainage water and cooling of electric power plants. Water used for hydroelectricity generation is normally excluded.

If the water is returned to a surface water source, abstraction of the same water by the downstream user is counted again in compiling total abstractions, potentially leading to double counting.

This indicator is measured in cubic metres (m³) per capita. A cubic metre is the equivalent of one thousand 1 litre bottles.