WUE and WF of winter wheat and maize in the North China Plain between 1980 and 2014 were quantified.
WUE increased and WF decreased due to the increase in grain yield.
The changing trend of WUE being greater than WF due to the considering the agricultural input in WF.
The main components of WF for winter wheat and maize are blue and green water use.
Compared with the WUE, the WF measure is a more comprehensive approach.