Kyrgyzstan's agriculture sector has increased its water consumption by 26% over the past five years

The water needs of Kyrgyzstan's agricultural sector are growing. According to the Water Resources Service, in 2024 alone, 6.19 billion cubic meters of water were used for irrigation and agricultural needs. This is almost half a billion more than the previous year and 1.3 billion cubic meters more than in 2019.

For comparison, in 2019, agricultural water consumption was 4.92 billion cubic meters, in 2020 — 4.94 billion, in 2021 — 4.99 billion, in 2022 — 5.52 billion, and in 2023 — 5.7 billion. Thus, over the past five years, the growth has been about 26%.

Total water withdrawal from natural sources in 2024 reached 9.33 billion cubic meters, of which almost two-thirds goes to agriculture.

At the same time, industrial needs consume dozens of times less — only 73.7 million cubic meters in 2024. Moreover, by 2019, this figure had decreased by 12.57%.

At the same time, a positive trend has been observed in the republic — a reduction in the volume of polluted wastewater discharge (without treatment or with insufficient treatment). In 2024, the amount decreased to 1.4 million cubic meters, which is the lowest level in the last five years. For comparison, in 2019, this figure was 1.9 million cubic meters.