Hence in 1995, global water use would have been 6% higher, and irrigation water depletion would have been 11% higher, if not for international trade (de Fraiture et al., The authors caution against inferring that trade will be helpful in mitigating global water scarcity, however, given that water savings cannot always be re-allocated to beneficial uses, and that political and economic considerations might have greater influence than water scarcity in determining national trading strategies. In their analysis of data describing water availability and international trade for 146 countries, the authors find that observed trading patterns are not consistent with those predicted by the virtual water metaphor.