Global data-center water consumption (all data centers), including indirect water for electricity generation and hardware manufacturing; IEA estimate for 2023 and projection for 2030
~560B L (2023) → ~1,200B L/yr (2030)forecast
| Value kind | forecast — Forecasts are time-bound outlooks, not specifications; test decisions across plausible scenarios. |
|---|---|
| Scope | Consumption, not withdrawal; not AI-only. Most of the 2023 total is indirect (electricity generation). Study boundaries vary roughly 24-fold (Masanet 2026). |
| As of | IEA Energy and AI (April 2025) |
| Source | IEA, Energy and AI (April 2025), as reported in the UK Government water-use report (2025) and PMC12827721 · the IEA estimates that the data centre sector consumes over 560 billion litres of water annually ... reaching as high as 1,200 billion litres by 2030 |
| Review | checking…review by 2027-04-16 · standard cadence |
| Recorded changes | last 2026-10-16 · 4 revisions tracked |
| Claim id | global-data-center-water-consumed-in-2025-1 |
Where the guide uses it
← Full numbers register — every date-stamped figure in the guide, with revision history.