Inequality of household water footprint consumption in China

Abstract

• Water inequality across different income groups is large. • Household water footprints converge with economic development. • Agriculture is the largest contributor to household water footprints. • There is great variation in the water inequality corresponding to the eight main expenditure categories. In addition to China’s physical water shortage, income and expenditure disparities can exacerbate the country’s water issues, thus preventing an equitable distribution of water resources across diverse household groups. By linking Chinese data on household expenditure with an environmentally extended multiregional input–output (MRIO) table, this study calculates household water footprints (WFs) for 12 income groups in 30 provinces across China and assesses the water inequality among households in 2012. In addition to inequality across regions, importantly, water inequality across different income groups is identified. The findings show that (1) the inequality in WFs between households within and across provinces in China is large. Within provinces, the WF of urban residents is 2.5 times as large as that of rural residents. Across provinces, Xinjiang has the highest per capita WF (1126.17 m 3 ), while Shandong has the lowest (155.97 m 3 ). (2) Differences in household WFs vary widely by income group. The gap in the per capita WF between very low-income urban households and very high-income households ranges between 163.3 m 3 (Tianjin) and 1646.4 m 3 (Xinjiang), while the gap among rural households ranges only from 37.0 m 3 (Beijing) to 519.8 m 3 (Xinjiang). (3) Water inequality declines with regional economic development. In 2012, the province-level total WF-Gini coefficients ranged from 0.20 (Beijing) to 0.36 (Guizhou). The water inequality in China’s wealthier eastern region is much narrower than that in the poorer provinces in western China. Governments need to pay more attention to household water inequality when considering the allocation of water and water-saving duties.