Drinking water services in South Africa
South Africa: Drinking water services was 784,072 people in 2024. ▼ Falling
Drinking water services in South Africa, 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
South Africa recorded 784,072 people for drinking water services in 2024. That is the lowest value across all 25 years on record.
That represents a change of down 13.9% on the previous year and down 61.5% over ten years.
Over the whole period, drinking water services in South Africa peaked at 3.87 million people in 2000 and was at its lowest, 784,072 people, in 2024.
That places South Africa 33rd 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.
Drinking water services in South Africa, year by year
| Year | people | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 3.87 million people | — |
| 2001 | 3.73 million people | -3.5% |
| 2002 | 3.59 million people | -3.7% |
| 2003 | 3.46 million people | -3.8% |
| 2004 | 3.32 million people | -3.9% |
| 2005 | 3.18 million people | -4.1% |
| 2006 | 3.05 million people | -4.2% |
| 2007 | 2.91 million people | -4.4% |
| 2008 | 2.78 million people | -4.5% |
| 2009 | 2.65 million people | -4.6% |
| 2010 | 2.53 million people | -4.9% |
| 2011 | 2.40 million people | -5.1% |
| 2012 | 2.28 million people | -5.1% |
| 2013 | 2.16 million people | -5.2% |
| 2014 | 2.04 million people | -5.5% |
| 2015 | 1.92 million people | -5.6% |
| 2016 | 1.79 million people | -7.0% |
| 2017 | 1.65 million people | -7.7% |
| 2018 | 1.53 million people | -7.3% |
| 2019 | 1.41 million people | -7.9% |
| 2020 | 1.29 million people | -8.7% |
| 2021 | 1.16 million people | -9.6% |
| 2022 | 1.04 million people | -10.8% |
| 2023 | 910,340 people | -12.2% |
| 2024 | 784,072 people | -13.9% |
South Africa compared with similar countries
- South Africa's 784,072 people is above the median for upper middle income countries, which is 5,292 people, 148.2× the median. (58 countries reporting)
- South Africa's 784,072 people is above the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 511,332 people, 1.5× the median. (48 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 3.25 million people | 2.65 million people | 3.87 million people | 10 |
| 2010s | 1.97 million people | 1.41 million people | 2.53 million people | 10 |
| 2020s | 1.04 million people | 784,072 people | 1.29 million people | 5 |
Countries ranked near South Africa
More environment data for South Africa
- Historical exposure to drought — Land soil moisture anomaly 5.46 Percentage change (2025)
- Historical exposure to drought — Cropland soil moisture anomaly 8.52 Percentage change (2025)
- Standard Deviation, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Standard Deviation 0.275 °C (2025)
- Temperature change 1.05 °C (2025)
- Wood-based panels — Production, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2024)
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF (Mt CO2e), annual 2.59 % change on previous year (2024)
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF (Mt CO2e), per unit 0 Mt CO2e per US$ of GDP (2024)
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF (Mt CO2e), per capita 0 Mt CO2e per person (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Agriculture (Mt CO2e), annual growth rate 0.2953 % change on previous year (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is drinking water services in South Africa?
- Drinking water services in South Africa was 784,072 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 South Africa?
- The highest recorded value was 3.87 million people in 2000.
- What is the lowest drinking water services recorded in South Africa?
- The lowest recorded value was 784,072 people in 2024.
- How does South Africa rank for drinking water services?
- South Africa ranks 33rd out of 231 countries with data for 2024.
- Is drinking water services rising or falling in South Africa?
- Over the last ten years it is down 61.5%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this South Africa 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.