Drinking water services in Cameroon

Cameroon: Drinking water services was 1.27 million people in 2024. ▼ Falling

Latest (2024)
1.27 million people
Change on year
down 1.6%
World rank
22nd
of 231 countries
All-time high
1.53 million people
in 2000
All-time low
1.27 million people
in 2024
Years of data
25
2000–2024

Drinking water services in Cameroon, 2000–2024

0500.0k1.0M1.5M2000201220242000: 1.5M people2001: 1.5M people2002: 1.5M people2003: 1.5M people2004: 1.5M people2005: 1.5M people2006: 1.5M people2007: 1.5M people2008: 1.5M people2009: 1.5M people2010: 1.5M people2011: 1.5M people2012: 1.4M people2013: 1.4M people2014: 1.4M people2015: 1.4M people2016: 1.4M people2017: 1.4M people2018: 1.4M people2019: 1.4M people2020: 1.3M people2021: 1.3M people2022: 1.3M people2023: 1.3M people2024: 1.3M people

Source: WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene (2025) – processed by Our World in Data. Measured in people.

Analysis

In 2024, drinking water services in Cameroon stood at 1.27 million people. That is the lowest value across all 25 years on record.

The figure is down 1.6% on the previous year and down 11.1% over ten years.

Over the whole period, drinking water services in Cameroon peaked at 1.53 million people in 2000 and was at its lowest, 1.27 million people, in 2024.

That places Cameroon 22nd out of 231 countries with data for 2024, putting it in the top 10%.

The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 25 years of available data.

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
2000s 1.51 million people 1.48 million people 1.53 million people 10
2010s 1.42 million people 1.36 million people 1.47 million people 10
2020s 1.31 million people 1.27 million people 1.35 million people 5

Countries ranked near Cameroon

  1. 19 Chad 1.44 million people compare
  2. 20 South Sudan 1.40 million people compare
  3. 21 China 1.30 million people compare
  4. 23 Zimbabwe 1.20 million people compare
  5. 24 Zambia 1.19 million people compare
  6. 25 Russia 1.12 million people compare

See the full ranking of 231 places →

More environment data for Cameroon

All data for Cameroon →

Frequently asked questions

What is drinking water services in Cameroon?
Drinking water services in Cameroon was 1.27 million people in 2024, according to WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene (2025) – processed by Our World in Data.
What is the highest drinking water services recorded in Cameroon?
The highest recorded value was 1.53 million people in 2000.
What is the lowest drinking water services recorded in Cameroon?
The lowest recorded value was 1.27 million people in 2024.
How does Cameroon rank for drinking water services?
Cameroon ranks 22nd out of 231 countries with data for 2024.
Is drinking water services rising or falling in Cameroon?
Over the last ten years it is down 11.1%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
Where does this Cameroon data come from?
The figures come from WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene (2025) – processed by Our World in Data, published as part of Drinking water services. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

Download this data

CSV · JSON — 25 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).

About this data

Indicator
Drinking water services
Unit
people
Source
WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene (2025) – processed by Our World in Data
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
231 places, 5,429 data points, 2000–2024
Last refreshed

Number of people using drinking water directly collected from surface waters.