Examining the interdependent relationship between water use and economic development can yield programs to foster sustainable economic growth in Anhui Province. The highly efficient SBM model was employed to assess the water use efficiency of 16 cities in Anhui from 2012 to 2022. The inputoutput of water resources was evaluated by the rank-sum grading method. The standard deviation ellipse and center of gravity migration were employed to analyze the spatial and temporal evolution of water use efficiency in Anhui cities. The Tapio decoupling model was employed to examine the relationship between water use efficiency and the level of economic development. The findings indicate that: (1) The water use efficiency in Anhui Province from 2012 to 2022 exhibits a "V"-shaped fluctuation with a rising trajectory. The average value ranges from 0.673 to 0.907. (2) The spatial distribution of water use in Anhui transitioned from "high in the north and south, low in the middle" in 2012 to "high in the east and low in the west" in 2022. The spatial center of gravity is shifting eastward in a "W" formation. (3) From 2012 to 2022, the decoupling of water use efficiency and economic development progressively showed a positive trend with periodic fluctuations.