Drinking water services in Democratic Republic of Congo
Democratic Republic of Congo: Drinking water services was 8.46 million people in 2024. ▼ Falling
Drinking water services in Democratic Republic of Congo, 2000–2024
Source: WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene (2025) – processed by Our World in Data. Measured in people.
Analysis
Democratic Republic of Congo recorded 8.46 million people for drinking water services in 2024.
Compared with earlier readings it is up 2.2% on the previous year and up 0.2% over ten years.
Over the whole period, drinking water services in Democratic Republic of Congo peaked at 8.88 million people in 2002 and was at its lowest, 7.74 million people, in 2020.
Democratic Republic of Congo ranks 3rd of 231 countries on this measure, in the top 10%.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 25 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 8.83 million people | 8.71 million people | 8.88 million people | 10 |
| 2010s | 8.36 million people | 7.91 million people | 8.67 million people | 10 |
| 2020s | 8.10 million people | 7.74 million people | 8.46 million people | 5 |
Countries ranked near Democratic Republic of Congo
More environment data for Democratic Republic of Congo
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF 58.49 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF per capita 0.5353 t CO2e/capita (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Agriculture 3.5 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Building (Energy) 7.67 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Fugitive Emissions (Energy) 17.49 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Industrial Combustion (Energy) 0.0166 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions (total) excluding LULUCF 42.16 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Power Industry (Energy) 0.0035 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Transport (Energy) 0.024 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Waste 13.45 Mt CO2e (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is drinking water services in Democratic Republic of Congo?
- Drinking water services in Democratic Republic of Congo was 8.46 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 Democratic Republic of Congo?
- The highest recorded value was 8.88 million people in 2002.
- What is the lowest drinking water services recorded in Democratic Republic of Congo?
- The lowest recorded value was 7.74 million people in 2020.
- How does Democratic Republic of Congo rank for drinking water services?
- Democratic Republic of Congo ranks 3rd out of 231 countries with data for 2024.
- Is drinking water services rising or falling in Democratic Republic of Congo?
- Over the last ten years it is up 0.2%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Democratic Republic of Congo 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
Number of people using drinking water directly collected from surface waters.