SOURCE CHECKED 2026-10-16 / iea-2025-v1
Every number has a boundary.
A large number needs a clear year, a source and a definition. Here is exactly what these receipts compare.
2023 estimate: about 560 billion litres/year.
2030 Base Case: about 1.2 trillion litres/year.
All data centres worldwide, including AI and other computing. Cooling, energy supply and semiconductor manufacturing.
The source
IEA, Energy and AI (2025), Box 5.4 and Figure 5.27, printed pages 242–244. The chart identifies the baseline as 2023. These are approximate consumption quantities, including indirect water; they are not an AI-only meter or a direct-cooling-only total.
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All eight equivalents
| Comparison | 2023 estimate | 2030 Base Case |
|---|---|---|
| pool-equivalents | ≈ 224,000 | ≈ 480,000 |
| person-years of drinking volume | ≈ 767 million | ≈ 1.64 billion |
| hectares under a 10 mm layer | ≈ 5.6 million | ≈ 12 million |
| litres per second, annual average | ≈ 17,757 | ≈ 38,052 |
Rounding makes these readable; it does not make the source more precise. A 365-day year is used for both illustrative comparisons.
pool-equivalents
An illustrative 50 × 25 × 2 m pool holds 2.5 million litres.
annual litres / (50 m × 25 m × 2 m × 1,000 L/m³)
Equivalent volume. An illustrative pool size, not a count of actual pools or a standard for every competition pool.
person-years of drinking volume
An illustrative 2 litres a day for 365 days: 730 litres per person-year.
annual litres / (2 L/person/day × 365 days)
Equivalent volume only. This does not mean the water was drinkable, available to supply people, or withheld from them. Not hydration advice.
hectares under a 10 mm layer
One hectare covered 10 mm deep holds 100,000 litres.
annual litres / (0.01 m × 10,000 m²/hectare × 1,000 L/m³)
Geometry only. One shallow layer, not a growing season, crop yield or water actually available for irrigation.
litres per second, annual average
Annual litres spread evenly over a 365-day year.
annual litres / (365 days × 24 hours × 60 minutes × 60 seconds)
An annual-average equivalent, not a live meter. The animation does not track water disappearing from Earth.
What the total cannot tell you
It cannot assign water to your prompt, identify a site's drinking-water supply, measure local harm, or establish that every facility has the same footprint. Withdrawal, consumption, scarcity and water quality are different questions. Location, source and season need their own evidence.
Dates and revisions
Reviewed 2026-10-16; data revision iea-2025-v1. A checked date means the source was reviewed, not that a new global measurement was published. Permanent receipt links retain their archived release. New source boundaries or assumptions require a labelled revision.
The newer IEA report published 14 October 2026 discusses capacity in water-stressed locations. Its summary and body/chart differ in their exposure percentage; no unresolved percentage or new global litres total is substituted here.
Attribution and corrections
Source: IEA (2025), Energy and AI, CC BY 4.0 as labelled in the report. The receipt artwork and volume comparisons are our own presentation. This site is independent and is not endorsed by the IEA. See the corrections record.