Drinking water services in Rwanda

Rwanda: Drinking water services was 1.01 million people in 2024. ▼ Falling

Latest (2024)
1.01 million people
Change on year
down 2.2%
World rank
27th
of 231 countries
All-time high
1.22 million people
in 2000
All-time low
1.01 million people
in 2024
Years of data
25
2000–2024

Drinking water services in Rwanda, 2000–2024

0250.0k500.0k750.0k1.0M1.2M2000201220242000: 1.2M people2001: 1.2M people2002: 1.2M people2003: 1.2M people2004: 1.2M people2005: 1.2M people2006: 1.2M people2007: 1.2M people2008: 1.2M people2009: 1.2M people2010: 1.2M people2011: 1.2M people2012: 1.2M people2013: 1.2M people2014: 1.2M people2015: 1.2M people2016: 1.1M people2017: 1.1M people2018: 1.1M people2019: 1.1M people2020: 1.1M people2021: 1.1M people2022: 1.1M people2023: 1.0M people2024: 1.0M 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 Rwanda stood at 1.01 million people. That is the lowest value across all 25 years on record.

Compared with earlier readings it is down 2.2% on the previous year and down 13.3% over ten years.

Over the whole period, drinking water services in Rwanda peaked at 1.22 million people in 2000 and was at its lowest, 1.01 million people, in 2024.

That places Rwanda 27th out of 231 countries with data for 2024, putting it in the top quarter.

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

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
2000s 1.19 million people 1.17 million people 1.22 million people 10
2010s 1.15 million people 1.11 million people 1.19 million people 10
2020s 1.05 million people 1.01 million people 1.09 million people 5

Countries ranked near Rwanda

  1. 24 Zambia 1.19 million people compare
  2. 25 Russia 1.12 million people compare
  3. 26 Cambodia 1.02 million people compare
  4. 28 Papua New Guinea 945,195 people compare
  5. 29 Cote d'Ivoire 943,025 people compare
  6. 30 Guinea 889,018 people compare

See the full ranking of 231 places →

More environment data for Rwanda

All data for Rwanda →

Frequently asked questions

What is drinking water services in Rwanda?
Drinking water services in Rwanda was 1.01 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 Rwanda?
The highest recorded value was 1.22 million people in 2000.
What is the lowest drinking water services recorded in Rwanda?
The lowest recorded value was 1.01 million people in 2024.
How does Rwanda rank for drinking water services?
Rwanda ranks 27th out of 231 countries with data for 2024.
Is drinking water services rising or falling in Rwanda?
Over the last ten years it is down 13.3%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
Where does this Rwanda 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.