Press Release: Survey on Water Supply and Sewerage. Year 2024.

Main results

The average water consumption of households stood at 128 litres per inhabitant per day in 2024, the same amount as in 2022.
The unit cost of water rose by 5.2%, to 2.02 euros per cubic metre.

More information

4,267 cubic hectometres (hm³) of water were delivered to the public urban water supply in 2024, 0.3% more than in the previous survey conducted in 2022.

Approximately three-quarters (3,283 hm³) were volumes of recorded water, that is, measured in the users' meters. The rest (984 hm³) were volumes of unrecorded water (not measured or estimated by capacities).

Volume of water supplied to the network

Unit hm³

By type of user, household water consumption increased by 3.3% and that of the economic sectors rose by 12.9%.

Conversely, municipal consumption fell by 8.7%.

Volumes of water recorded and distributed to users

Unit hm³

Unrecorded water is disaggregated into actual and apparent losses. Actual losses (leaks, burst pipes and supply network faults) were estimated at 624 hm³, which amounted to 14.6% of the total of water supplied to those networks.

Meanwhile, apparent losses (metering errors, fraud and authorised but not metered consumption) accounted for 360 hm³.

Average household water consumption

Average household water consumption - calculated as a quotient between the total volume of water recorded and distributed to households and the resident population on 1 July each year - stood at 128 litres per inhabitant per day in 2024. This was the same amount as in 2022.

Unit cost of water

The unit cost of water stood at 2.02 euros per cubic metre in 2024, an increase of 5.2% compared with the figure for 2022. This cost is defined as the quotient between the amounts paid for the supply of water plus those paid for sewerage, purification and sanitation or discharge fees, and the volume of water metered and distributed to all users.

For its part, the unit cost of the water supply totalled 1.09 euros per cubic metre, 0.6% less than in 2022, while that of sanitation (sewerage, treatment, and sanitation and discharge fees) rose by 22.4% to 0.93 euros.

Origin of the water collected

62.1% of the volume captured by companies and public bodies that supply water came from surface water in 2024. 27.1% was from underground water and the remaining 10.8% came from other kinds of water (desalinated sea or saltwater).

Results by Autonomous Communities and Cities

The communities that recorded the largest increases in the volume of water registered and distributed to users during 2024 were Castilla-La Mancha (33.4%), Principado de Asturias (17.7%) and Comunitat Valenciana (16.1%).

Conversely, the regions that recorded the largest falls in the volume of water recorded and distributed were Extremadura (-10.9%), La Rioja (-7.8%) and Cataluña (-5.7%).

Biennial variation (in %) of the volumes recorded and distributed to users by autonomous communities and cities

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The communities that distributed the largest volumes of water with respect to the total were Andalucía (17.3%), Comunidad de Madrid (13.8%) and Cataluña (12.8%). At the other end of the scale were La Rioja (0.8%), Cantabria (1.7%) and Extremadura (1.8%).

By type of user, Andalucía was the autonomous community with the greatest consumption of water recorded and distribution of water to households (17.9% of the total) and to the economic sectors (16.1%). For its part, Comunidad de Madrid recorded the highest municipal consumptions (21.0% of the total).

Average household water consumption by Autonomous Community

The highest average water consumptions in 2024 occurred in Cantabria (186 litres per inhabitant per day), Castilla-La Mancha (172) and Principado de Asturias (161).

On the other hand, the lowest averages were recorded in País Vasco (79 litres per inhabitant per day), Cataluña (100) and Galicia (115).

Average household water consumption by autonomous communities and cities. Year 2024

Unit: litre/inhabitant/day

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Unit cost of water by Autonomous Community

The highest figures for the unit cost of water in 2024 were recorded in Illes Balears (2.80), Cataluña (2.72) and Comunitat Valenciana (2.63).

On the other hand, La Rioja (1.26 euros), Principado de Asturias (1.27) and Castilla y León (1.29) displayed the lowest ones.

Distribution of the unit cost of water by autonomous communities and cities. 2024

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Revisions and data updates

The data published today are final. All results of this operation are available on INEBase.

Methodological note

The main objective of the Statistics on Water supply and Sewerage is to quantify in physical units and value in economic magnitudes the activities relating to what is termed the comprehensive water cycle, comprising water supply and treatment (sewerage system and filtering of waste water).

In addition, it provides the necessary information to meet the demand of national and international organisations, companies in the sector and public administration agencies.

The information obtained is integrated with the data provided by the industrial and service surveys carried out by the INE in order to have a more complete view of the water situation in our economy. Synthesis indicators are also developed to facilitate the interpretation of the results obtained for users.

For more information, you can access the methodology and the standardised methodological report.

INE statistics are produced in accordance with the Code of Good Practice for European Statistics. More information on Quality at INE and Code of Best Practices.