The water vapor budget of the stratosphere is diagnosed from correlation studies of the UARS Halogen Occultation Experiment sunset measurements of CH4 and H2O in the middle and upper stratosphere, where the correlations are most significant and highly negative. Analyses were conducted for the years 1992--1994 using the methods of (1) linear regression and (2) deterministic differences (or variances of the data). It is assumed that there is conservation of total hydrogen according to a methane oxidation chemical mechanism. Results consist of the zonal mean seasonal distributions of the chemical yield of H2O molecules from each molecule of CH4 (or the β profile) and an estimate of the annual average value of H2O that enters the stratosphere from below (or 2O>e), presumably at the tropical tropopause. Average seasonal β values range from 1.6 to 2.4, and their zonal mean patterns are in good agreement with the theoretical model distribution of LeTexier et al., especially for the upper stratosphere. The range for annual average 2O>e is 2.9 to 3.4 parts per million by volume (ppmv). When adjusted upward by 10% due to known negative biases of about 5% in both the midstratospheric CH4 and the H2O data, 2O>e becomes 3.2 to 3.7 ppmv and is more consistent with averages of in situ measurements of water vapor at low latitudes of the lower stratosphere. We also find coherent patterns in the seasonal estimates of zonal average water vapor yield that are related to (1) the downward descent of air at winter polar latitudes, (2) the presence of dehydrated air at high latitudes of the southern hemisphere lower stratosphere, and (3) the ascent and relative isolation of the annual (January) minimum in tropical water vapor. ¿ American Geophysical Union 1996