Annual quantity of water withdrawn for irrigation and livestock purposes. It includes renewable freshwater resources as well as potential over-abstraction of renewable groundwater or withdrawal of fossil groundwater, use of agricultural drainage water, desalinated water and treated wastewater. It includes water withdrawn for irrigation purposes and for livestock watering, although depending on the country this last category sometimes is included in domestic water withdrawal. As far as the water withdrawn for irrigation is concerned, the value far exceeds the consumptive use of irrigation because of water lost in its distribution from its source to the crops.
The term "water requirement ratio" (sometimes also called "irrigation efficiency") is used to indicate the ratio between the net irrigation water requirements or crop water requirements, which is the volume of water needed to compensate for the deficit between potential evapotranspiration and effective precipitation over the growing period of the crop, and the amount of water withdrawn for irrigation including the losses.
In the specific case of paddy rice irrigation, additional water is needed for flooding to facilitate land preparation and for plant protection. In that case, irrigation water requirements are the sum of rainfall deficit and the water needed to flood paddy fields. At scheme level, water requirement ratio values can vary from less than 20% to more than 95%. As far as livestock watering is concerned the ratio between net consumptive use and water withdrawn is estimated between 60% and 90%. By default, livestock water use is accounted for in agricultural water use. However, some countries include it in domestic water withdrawal.

Annual quantity of water withdrawn for domestic purposes. It includes renewable freshwater resources as well as potential over-abstraction of renewable groundwater or withdrawal of fossil groundwater and the potential use of desalinated water or treated wastewater. It is usually computed as the total water withdrawn by the public distribution network. It can include that part of the industries, which is connected to the domestic network. The ratio between the net consumption and the water withdrawn can vary from 5 to 15% in urban areas and from 10 to 50% in rural areas.

Annual quantity of water withdrawn for industrial uses. It includes renewable water resources as well as potential over-abstraction of renewable groundwater or withdrawal of fossil groundwater and potential use of desalinated water or treated wastewater. Usually, this sector refers to self-supplied industries not connected to any distribution network. The ratio between net consumption and withdrawal is estimated at less than 5%.

Total annual amount of water withdrawn per inhabitant.

Percent of area equipped for irrigation that is actually irrigated in any given year, expressed in percentage. Irrigated land that is cultivated more than once a year is counted only once.

Percent of the total area of potentially irrigable land (irrigation potential) that is equipped for irrigation, expressed in percentage.

Average yield of the crop under full/partial control irrigation .

Total annual amount of groundwater withdrawn per inhabitant.
Groundwater withdrawal refers to annual gross amount of water extracted from aquifers. It includes withdrawal of renewable groundwater, water extracted from deep fossil aquifers (non-renewable water) and potential over-abstraction of renewable groundwater.

Annual quantity of wastewater generated in the country, in other words, the quantity of water that has been polluted by adding waste. The origin can be domestic use (used water from bathing, sanitary, cooking, etc.) or industrial wastewater routed to the wastewater treatment plant. It does not include agricultural drainage water, which is the water withdrawn for agriculture but not consumed and returned to the system.

Quantity of generated wastewater that is treated in a given year and discharged from treatment plants (effluent). Wastewater treatment is the process to render wastewater fit to meet applicable environmental standards for discharge. Three broad phases of traditional treatment can be distinguished: primary, secondary and tertiary treatment. Discharge standards vary significantly from country to country, and therefore so do the phases of treatment. For purposes of calculating the total amount of treated waste water, volumes and loads reported should be shown only under the "highest" type of treatment to which it was subjected.

The potential of electricity generation using the power of falling water, through dams and reservoirs.

Percentage of the rural population using improved water sources. An “improved” source is one that is likely to provide "safe" water, such as a household connection, a borehole, etc. Current information does not allow yet establishing a relationship between access to safe water and access to improved sources, but WHO and UNICEF are examining this relationship.

Percentage of the urban population with using improved water sources. An “improved” source is one that is likely to provide "safe" water, such as a household connection, a borehole, etc. Current information does not allow yet establishing a relationship between access to safe water and access to improved sources, but WHO and UNICEF are examining this relationship

Percentage of the rural population with access to an improved sanitation facility (for defecating). An improved sanitation facility is defined as a facility used for excreta disposal whereby the human excreta are hygienically separated from human contact or their immediate environment, thus reducing the risk of faecal-oral transmission to its users. Such facilities include:
- Toilet with sewer connection or septic tank;
- Pour flush toilet/pour flush latrine to sewer, septic tank or pit;
- Ventilated Improved Pit (VIP) latrine;
- Latrine with a slab;
- Ecological sanitation.
A shared or public facility is a facility regularly used by members of more than one household (extended families living on the same compound, plot or yard are generally considered one and the same household). Shared or public facilities are not considered improved for reasons of poor cleanliness and lack of privacy. Definitions used for urban and rural areas are those defined by individual countries.

Percentage of the urban population with access to an improved sanitation facility (for defecating). An improved sanitation facility is defined as a facility used for excreta disposal whereby the human excreta are hygienically separated from human contact or their immediate environment, thus reducing the risk of faecal-oral transmission to its users. Such facilities include:
- Toilet with sewer connection or septic tank;
- Pour flush toilet/pour flush latrine to sewer, septic tank or pit;
- Ventilated Improved Pit (VIP) latrine;
- Latrine with a slab;
- Ecological sanitation.
A shared or public facility is a facility regularly used by members of more than one household (extended families living on the same compound, plot or yard are generally considered one and the same household). Shared or public facilities are not considered improved for reasons of poor cleanliness and lack of privacy. Definitions used for urban and rural areas are those defined by individual countries.

This indicator is about deaths among children between birth and exactly five years of age due to diarrhoea, a water borne disease.
Three types of water-related diseases exist: (i) water-borne diseases are those diseases that arise from infected water and are transmitted when the water is used for drinking or cooking (for example cholera, typhoid); (ii) water-based diseases are those in which water provides the habitant for host organisms of parasites ingested (for example shistomasomiasis or bilharzia); (iii) water-related insect vector diseases are those in which insect vectors rely on water as habitat but transmission is not through direct contact with water (for example malaria, onchocerciasis or river blindness, elephantiasis).

Water is vital for life but can also be deadly, with floods, droughts and epidemics capable of destroying lives and communities. In least developed economies, extreme floods and droughts can cause large-scale losses of life and declines in annual GDP often exceeding 10%. Intermediate economies are also vulnerable to floods and droughts, but they have typically undertaken much investment in water infrastructure that helps to mitigate the effects.
Investments in integrated flood management within basin plans improve the beneficial use of water and minimize losses from floods. Investment in drought management brings benefits by reducing the economic, social, and environmental costs associated with drought. Because the poor are especially vulnerable, flood and drought preparedness is a critical part of poverty reduction strategies.