Elevated CO₂ (eCO₂) has important impacts on plants, especially on water use efficiency (WUE). A meta-analysis was performed to determine the responses of WUE to enriched CO₂. We summarized 242 studies on WUE research under ambient and enriched CO₂ conditions that were published between 1989 and 2019. Our results showed that WUE had positive responses to elevated CO₂ with an increase of about 46% and high heterogeneity. Elevated CO₂ increased leaf, grain, biomass and whole plant WUE by 76%, 9%, 30% and 37%, respectively. The effect size on leaf WUE was higher than the other three WUE types, and the effect size on whole plant WUE was higher than grain WUE (P<0.05). In another respect, the response of WUE in forests was higher than in cropland (P<0.05). Regarding different experimental methods, WUE had a stronger response to elevated CO₂ by the method of climate-controlled chamber than by the methods of OTC (Open Top Chamber) or greenhouses (P<0.05). However, the effect size obtained by the method of greenhouse was higher than that obtained by the methods of either OTC or climate chamber for whole plant WUE (P<0.05). Furthermore, our results found WUE had a positive linear relationship with the magnitude of CO₂ enrichment (P<0.05). Meanwhile, the effect size of elevated CO₂ on grain WUE had a positive linear relationship with the duration of CO₂ enrichment. This study found that the impacts of CO₂ enrichment on WUE are unique and specific for different WUE types and the various experimental conditions.