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Health & Population

People using at least basic drinking water services (% of population)

The percentage of people using at least basic water services. This indicator encompasses both people using basic water services as well as those using safely managed water services. Basic drinking water services is defined as drinking water from an improved source, provided collection time is not more than 30 minutes for a round trip. Improved water sources include piped water, boreholes or tubewells, protected dug wells, protected springs, and packaged or delivered water.

World Bank code: SH.H2O.BASW.ZS • Data available for 214 countries • Latest year: 2024

In , Norway led People using at least basic drinking water services (% of population) at 100.00.

The world median across 202 reporting countries was 97.38.

What this measures: The percentage of people using at least basic water services. This indicator encompasses both people using basic water services as well as those using safely managed water services. Basic drinking water services is defined as drinking water from an improved source, provided collection time is not more than 30 minutes for a round trip. Improved water sources include piped water, boreholes or tubewells, protected dug wells, protected springs, and packaged or delivered water.

How "Health & Population" indicators are measured

Health and population indicators come from national vital-registration systems, demographic and health surveys, and modeling by the UN Population Division and WHO. Mortality and morbidity estimates are often modeled rather than directly observed in lower-capacity statistical systems, which means some figures are interpolations between survey years. Life expectancy is a "period" measure based on current age-specific mortality, not a forecast of how long someone born today will actually live.

Distribution — 2024

Reporting
202 countries
Median
97.38
Mean
90.87
25th percentile
87.56
75th percentile
99.92
Range
35.68 – 100.00

World at a Glance — 2024

Every reporting country, grouped by region, shaded by value (quintile).

East Asia & PacificAmerican Samoa: 100.00ASAustralia: 99.97AUBrunei Darussalam: 100.00BNCambodia: 82.85KHChina: 96.12CNFiji: 95.56FJFrench Polynesia: 100.00PFGuam: 99.53GUHong Kong SAR, China: 100.00HKIndonesia: 89.01IDJapan: 99.18JPKiribati: 79.07KIKorea, Rep.: 100.00KRLao PDR: 95.86LAMacao SAR, China: 100.00MOMalaysia: 97.94MYMarshall Islands: 87.44MHMongolia: 86.09MNMyanmar: 85.69MMNauru: 97.84NRNew Caledonia: 99.54NCNew Zealand: 100.00NZNorthern Mariana Islands: 100.00MPPalau: 99.53PWPapua New Guinea: 53.30PGPhilippines: 95.86PHSamoa: 99.44WSSingapore: 100.00SGSolomon Islands: 71.61SBThailand: 100.00THTimor-Leste: 87.33TLTonga: 98.86TOTuvalu: 98.74TVVanuatu: 87.12VUViet Nam: 98.76VNEurope & Central AsiaAlbania: 95.12ALAndorra: 100.00ADArmenia: 99.93AMAustria: 100.00ATAzerbaijan: 97.69AZBelarus: 99.89BYBelgium: 100.00BEBosnia and Herzegovina: 96.09BABulgaria: 99.19BGCroatia: 99.90HRCyprus: 99.72CYCzechia: 98.73CZDenmark: 100.00DKEstonia: 100.00EEFaroe Islands: 100.00FOFinland: 100.00FIFrance: 100.00FRGeorgia: 97.29GEGermany: 100.00DEGibraltar: 100.00GIGreece: 100.00GRGreenland: 100.00GLHungary: 100.00HUIceland: 100.00ISIreland: 97.10IEIsle of Man: 100.00IMItaly: 99.92ITKazakhstan: 97.83KZKyrgyz Republic: 94.94KGLatvia: 98.77LVLiechtenstein: 100.00LILithuania: 99.92LTLuxembourg: 100.00LUMoldova: 92.71MDMonaco: 100.00MCMontenegro: 99.28MENetherlands: 100.00NLNorth Macedonia: 98.19MKNorway: 100.00NOPoland: 90.12PLPortugal: 99.29PTRomania: 100.00RORussian Federation: 96.90RUSan Marino: 100.00SMSerbia: 95.40RSSlovak Republic: 99.79SKSlovenia: 99.57SISpain: 99.92ESSweden: 99.76SESwitzerland: 100.00CHTajikistan: 89.19TJTurkiye: 95.99TRTurkmenistan: 99.92TMUkraine: 93.48UAUnited Kingdom: 100.00GBUzbekistan: 97.29UZLatin America & CaribbeanAntigua and Barbuda: 98.92AGBarbados: 99.16BBBelize: 94.85BZBolivia: 93.39BOBrazil: 100.00BRBritish Virgin Islands: 99.86VGCayman Islands: 95.46KYChile: 99.08CLColombia: 97.10COCosta Rica: 99.82CRCuba: 95.15CUCuracao: 100.00CWDominica: 97.00DMDominican Republic: 97.46DOEcuador: 92.07ECEl Salvador: 91.62SVGuatemala: 93.18GTGuyana: 95.64GYHaiti: 73.32HTHonduras: 95.73HNJamaica: 87.56JMMexico: 99.54MXPanama: 95.26PAParaguay: 99.60PYPeru: 95.64PEPuerto Rico (US): 100.00PRSt. Lucia: 98.10LCSt. Martin (French part): 99.92MFSuriname: 98.00SRTrinidad and Tobago: 99.25TTTurks and Caicos Islands: 98.83TCUruguay: 99.63UYVenezuela, RB: 93.33VEVirgin Islands (U.S.): 99.47VIMiddle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & PakistanAfghanistan: 80.83AFAlgeria: 92.42DZBahrain: 99.92BHDjibouti: 79.66DJEgypt, Arab Rep.: 97.30EGIran, Islamic Rep.: 97.85IRIraq: 98.41IQIsrael: 100.00ILJordan: 99.29JOKuwait: 100.00KWLebanon: 92.60LBLibya: 96.35LYMalta: 100.00MTMorocco: 92.21MAOman: 92.67OMPakistan: 90.69PKQatar: 99.99QASaudi Arabia: 99.04SASyrian Arab Republic: 94.13SYTunisia: 96.73TNUnited Arab Emirates: 100.00AEWest Bank and Gaza: 98.77PSYemen, Rep.: 75.04YENorth AmericaBermuda: 100.00BMCanada: 98.29CAUnited States: 99.98USSouth AsiaBangladesh: 98.78BDBhutan: 99.55BTIndia: 95.72INMaldives: 99.76MVNepal: 93.64NPSri Lanka: 90.21LKSub-Saharan AfricaAngola: 67.96AOBenin: 69.59BJBotswana: 91.77BWBurkina Faso: 50.00BFBurundi: 65.92BICabo Verde: 92.28CVCameroon: 71.41CMCentral African Republic: 36.50CFChad: 52.21TDComoros: 85.05KMCongo, Dem. Rep.: 35.68CDCote d'Ivoire: 77.25CIEswatini: 80.37SZEthiopia: 55.60ETGabon: 88.60GAGambia, The: 87.10GMGhana: 89.92GHGuinea: 74.19GNGuinea-Bissau: 61.81GWKenya: 65.60KELesotho: 78.08LSLiberia: 78.83LRMadagascar: 55.34MGMalawi: 73.05MWMali: 86.36MLMauritania: 77.28MRMauritius: 99.93MUMozambique: 66.63MZNamibia: 86.51NANiger: 53.43NENigeria: 82.25NGRwanda: 61.39RWSao Tome and Principe: 77.96STSenegal: 88.04SNSeychelles: 97.73SCSierra Leone: 68.08SLSomalia, Fed. Rep.: 75.29SOSouth Africa: 90.19ZASouth Sudan: 39.75SSSudan: 64.89SDTanzania: 64.61TZTogo: 64.79TGUganda: 63.01UGZambia: 73.41ZMZimbabwe: 67.21ZW

Lighter = lower value · Darker = higher value. Hover a cell to see the country and value.

Highest Values — 2024

# Country People using at least basic drinking water services (% of population)
1 Norway Europe & Central Asia 100.00
2 Singapore East Asia & Pacific 100.00
3 Greenland Europe & Central Asia 100.00
4 Brunei Darussalam East Asia & Pacific 100.00
5 Greece Europe & Central Asia 100.00
6 Gibraltar Europe & Central Asia 100.00
7 Germany Europe & Central Asia 100.00
8 Monaco Europe & Central Asia 100.00
9 Puerto Rico (US) Latin America & Caribbean 100.00
10 French Polynesia East Asia & Pacific 100.00

Looking for a specific country? Only the top and bottom 10 appear here. See where every country ranks for People using at least basic drinking water services (% of population).

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Biggest Movers — Year over Year

Largest increases

Largest decreases

By Income Group — Average

Income group Countries Mean
High income 81 99.29
Upper middle income 49 95.76
Lower middle income 47 84.75
Low income 23 64.78
Not classified 2 74.46

By Region — Average

Region Countries Mean
East Asia & Pacific 35 93.78
Europe & Central Asia 56 98.55
Latin America & Caribbean 34 96.26
Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan 23 94.52
North America 3 99.42
South Asia 6 96.28
Sub-Saharan Africa 45 71.84

Lowest Values — 2024

# Country People using at least basic drinking water services (% of population)
1 Congo, Dem. Rep. 35.68
2 Central African Republic 36.50
3 South Sudan 39.75
4 Burkina Faso 50.00
5 Chad 52.21
6 Papua New Guinea 53.30
7 Niger 53.43
8 Madagascar 55.34
9 Ethiopia 55.60
10 Rwanda 61.39
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Source: World Bank Open Data (SH.H2O.BASW.ZS), CC BY 4.0. Rankings show countries with available data for 2024.