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Indicator

Basic Drinking Water by African country

2024

Share of the population using at least basic drinking water services (WHO/UNICEF JMP).

Africa, 202429 of 54 countries
37.1%population-weighted average
Highest in 2024Senegal · 60.9%Lowest in 2024Morocco · 12.2%Reported in 202429 of 54 countries surveyed
Click a country to pin it — pinned countries are named on the map. Hatching means no record.
Western Sahara — no separate recordTanzania — 33.3%Democratic Republic of the Congo — 23.8%Somalia — no dataKenya — no dataSudan — no dataChad — 45.9%South Africa — 22.2%Lesotho — 46.8%Zimbabwe — 41.8%Botswana — 28.5%Namibia — no dataSenegal — 60.9%Mali — no dataMauritania — no dataBenin — 51.9%Niger — no dataNigeria — 52.3%Cameroon — no dataTogo — 44.3%Ghana — 47.0%Cote d'Ivoire — 40.8%Guinea — no dataGuinea-Bissau — 37.8%Liberia — no dataSierra Leone — 57.2%Burkina Faso — no dataCentral African Republic — 30.3%Republic of the Congo — no dataGabon — no dataEquatorial Guinea — no dataZambia — no dataMalawi — 54.9%Mozambique — 39.1%Eswatini — 42.2%Angola — no dataBurundi — no dataMadagascar — 33.3%Gambia — 38.9%Tunisia — 31.8%Algeria — 23.4%Eritrea — no dataMorocco — 12.2%Egypt — 18.4%Libya — no dataEthiopia — 42.0%Djibouti — no dataUganda — 44.9%Rwanda — no dataSouth Sudan — no dataNigeria 52.3%Nigeria 52.3%Ethiopia 42.0%Ethiopia 42.0%KenyaKenyaSouth Africa 22.2%South Africa 22.2%2024HIGHEST IN 2024Senegal60.9%Sierra Leone57.2%Malawi54.9%Nigeria52.3%Benin51.9%LOWEST IN 2024Morocco12.2%Egypt18.4%South Africa22.2%Algeria23.4%Democratic Republic of the Congo23.8%PINNEDEthiopia42.0%12 of 29Kenyano dataOTHER ISLAND STATES · NOT DRAWNCabo Verdenot drawnno dataComorosnot drawnno dataMauritiusnot drawnno dataSao Tome and Principenot drawn41.3%Seychellesnot drawn33.0%% of population · quintiles of the observed range12.2%28.5%37.8%41.8%46.8%60.9%no record
20142024
UNICEF · national statistics offices · the provider's own estimates where a country has not reportedCC BY 4.0
Countries

By region

Population-weighted, so a region’s figure is the share of its people, not the average of its countries.
Western Africa9 of 16 countries50.9%
Eastern Africa8 of 18 countries40.4%
Middle Africa4 of 9 countries27.4%
Southern Africa4 of 5 countries23.6%
Northern Africa4 of 6 countries19.1%
Africaall 54 countries · 29 with a 2024 figure37.1%

What to know before you quote this

Specific to this series. For how we treat data generally, see methods.
25 countries have no usable 2024 recordNot a low value — no figure within the window. Angola, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cabo Verde, Cameroon and 20 more are hatched on the map and blank in the table.
Certainty is judged year by yearA country can be Reported in one year and Modelled the next. The tag follows the year on the scrubber, so the 2024 assessment is not a verdict on the whole series.

About this data

Basic Drinking WaterShare of the population using at least basic drinking water services (WHO/UNICEF JMP).
SourceUNICEF, with processing by Africa API
Unit% of population
Last updated15 Aug 2026
Next expected updateAug 2027
Date range2000–2024
Coverage29 of 54 countries · 29 reported, 0 modelled, 25 with no usable figure

How the figure is made

ReportedA national statistics office or the original provider published the figure for that year directly. 29 countries did so for 2024 — the certainty shown on this page is that 2024 assessment, not a per-series one.ModelledNo direct figure that year. The provider’s own estimate, interpolation or projection stands in, and is marked as such wherever it appears.No dataNo usable figure within the window. Drawn hatched on the map and left blank in the table — not zero, and not filled in.

These three states are used the same way across every indicator on the site — how we treat certainty explains the full set and what we never do to a number.

Reuse and cite

Everything on this page is open under CC BY 4.0 — use it anywhere, including commercially, as long as Africa API and the original provider are credited. The provider’s own licence still applies to their data.

How to cite this page
Africa API (2026) — "Basic Drinking Water". Data adapted from UNICEF. Retrieved 18 Oct 2026 from africa-api.com/indicators/drinking-water
The request behind this view
GET /v1/data?metric_key=basic_drinking_water_pct&year=2024&limit=100

Read next

The measures that explain this one.
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Basic Drinking Water: most recent figure per country, highest to lowest

29 countries · each with its own period

The figures at the top of the page compare every country in the same year. This list takes each country’s newest figure instead, whatever its period, so the order can differ.

#CountryBasic Drinking WaterPeriod
1Senegal60.9%2024
2Sierra Leone57.2%2024
3Malawi54.9%2024
4Nigeria52.3%2024
5Benin51.9%2024
6Ghana47%2024
7Lesotho46.8%2024
8Chad45.9%2024
9Uganda44.9%2024
10Togo44.3%2024
11Eswatini42.2%2024
12Ethiopia42%2024
13Zimbabwe41.8%2024
14Sao Tome and Principe41.3%2024
15Cote d'Ivoire40.8%2024
16Mozambique39.1%2024
17Gambia38.9%2024
18Guinea-Bissau37.8%2024
19Madagascar33.3%2024
20Tanzania33.3%2024
21Seychelles33%2024
22Tunisia31.8%2024
23Central African Republic30.3%2024
24Botswana28.5%2024
25Democratic Republic of the Congo23.8%2024
26Algeria23.4%2024
27South Africa22.2%2024
28Egypt18.4%2024
29Morocco12.2%2024
Which observations are included?
The ranking includes 29 of 54 countries with available observations for 2023 or later and within 2 years of the freshest result. Each figure shows its reporting period. Countries without an eligible observation are omitted.
Does a higher value mean a better result?
The ranking is sorted by value, from highest to lowest. The order does not rate a country's performance. Interpretation depends on the indicator and its definition.

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