Drinking water services in rural areas in Afghanistan
Afghanistan: Drinking water services in rural areas was 2.72 million people in 2024. ▼ Falling
Drinking water services in rural areas in Afghanistan, 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
Afghanistan recorded 2.72 million people for drinking water services in rural areas in 2024. That is the lowest value across all 25 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is down 6.9% on the previous year and down 37.1% over ten years.
Over the whole period, drinking water services in rural areas in Afghanistan peaked at 4.80 million people in 2006 and was at its lowest, 2.72 million people, in 2024.
Afghanistan ranks 10th of 178 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 | 4.68 million people | 4.52 million people | 4.80 million people | 10 |
| 2010s | 4.20 million people | 3.69 million people | 4.53 million people | 10 |
| 2020s | 3.13 million people | 2.72 million people | 3.54 million people | 5 |
Countries ranked near Afghanistan
More environment data for Afghanistan
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF 33.03 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF per capita 0.7746 t CO2e/capita (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Agriculture 12.48 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Building (Energy) 0.2033 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Fugitive Emissions (Energy) 1.5 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Industrial Combustion (Energy) 0.0094 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions (total) excluding LULUCF 16.25 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Power Industry (Energy) 0.0035 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Transport (Energy) 0.026 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Waste 2.03 Mt CO2e (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is drinking water services in rural areas in Afghanistan?
- Drinking water services in rural areas in Afghanistan was 2.72 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 in rural areas recorded in Afghanistan?
- The highest recorded value was 4.80 million people in 2006.
- What is the lowest drinking water services in rural areas recorded in Afghanistan?
- The lowest recorded value was 2.72 million people in 2024.
- How does Afghanistan rank for drinking water services in rural areas?
- Afghanistan ranks 10th out of 178 countries with data for 2024.
- Is drinking water services in rural areas rising or falling in Afghanistan?
- Over the last ten years it is down 37.1%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Afghanistan 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 in rural areas. 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.