Data underlying the publication: Imported virtual water is scarcer than domestic water globally
What's in it
When countries import products, they rely on other countries’ water resources to meet their demand. In this way, they reduce the need to consume domestic water. This imported water, referred to as virtual water, is a common strategy to address water scarcity. However, it remains unclear whether imported virtual water is scarcer or less scarce than domestic water, raising sustainability concerns. Our study reveals that over the past three decades, most countries have imported virtual water that is scarcer than their domestic supply. Trade has redistributed water scarcity rather than sustainability. We call for exploring opportunities to ensure that virtual water trade promotes sustainable water use instead of undermining it. This dataset contains annual country-level virtual water imports, exports, and domestic water consumption, distinguishing sustainably consumed and overconsumed water. Bilateral virtual water trade per sector over the period of 2015-2019 is available on the Water Footprint Network website (https://tools.waterfootprint.org/virtual-water/#/world-map). The code of the crop model ACEA used in this study is freely available on GitHub …
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