Drinking water services in rural areas in Madagascar
Madagascar: Drinking water services in rural areas was 2.89 million people in 2024. ▼ Falling
Drinking water services in rural areas in Madagascar, 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
In 2024, drinking water services in rural areas in Madagascar stood at 2.89 million people. That is the lowest value across all 25 years on record.
The figure is down 6.6% on the previous year and down 37.1% over ten years.
Over the whole period, drinking water services in rural areas in Madagascar peaked at 5.61 million people in 2000 and was at its lowest, 2.89 million people, in 2024.
That places Madagascar 8th out of 178 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.
Drinking water services in rural areas in Madagascar, year by year
| Year | people | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 5.61 million people | — |
| 2001 | 5.60 million people | -0.1% |
| 2002 | 5.58 million people | -0.3% |
| 2003 | 5.56 million people | -0.4% |
| 2004 | 5.53 million people | -0.6% |
| 2005 | 5.47 million people | -1.1% |
| 2006 | 5.40 million people | -1.2% |
| 2007 | 5.33 million people | -1.3% |
| 2008 | 5.25 million people | -1.5% |
| 2009 | 5.16 million people | -1.6% |
| 2010 | 5.07 million people | -1.8% |
| 2011 | 4.97 million people | -2.0% |
| 2012 | 4.86 million people | -2.3% |
| 2013 | 4.73 million people | -2.5% |
| 2014 | 4.60 million people | -2.8% |
| 2015 | 4.46 million people | -3.0% |
| 2016 | 4.32 million people | -3.3% |
| 2017 | 4.17 million people | -3.5% |
| 2018 | 4.01 million people | -3.8% |
| 2019 | 3.84 million people | -4.1% |
| 2020 | 3.67 million people | -4.5% |
| 2021 | 3.48 million people | -5.0% |
| 2022 | 3.29 million people | -5.4% |
| 2023 | 3.10 million people | -6.0% |
| 2024 | 2.89 million people | -6.6% |
Madagascar compared with similar countries
- Madagascar's 2.89 million people is above the median for low income countries, which is 542,348 people, 5.3× the median. (25 countries reporting)
- Madagascar's 2.89 million people is above the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 528,044 people, 5.5× the median. (47 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 5.45 million people | 5.16 million people | 5.61 million people | 10 |
| 2010s | 4.50 million people | 3.84 million people | 5.07 million people | 10 |
| 2020s | 3.29 million people | 2.89 million people | 3.67 million people | 5 |
Countries ranked near Madagascar
More environment data for Madagascar
- Standard Deviation, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Standard Deviation 0.297 °C (2025)
- Temperature change 1.17 °C (2025)
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF (Mt CO2e), annual 0.2369 % 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 -1.01 % change on previous year (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Agriculture (Mt CO2e), per unit of GDP 0 Mt CO2e per US$ of GDP (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Agriculture (Mt CO2e), per capita 0 Mt CO2e per person (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Building (Energy) (Mt CO2e), annual 0 % change on previous year (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is drinking water services in rural areas in Madagascar?
- Drinking water services in rural areas in Madagascar was 2.89 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 Madagascar?
- The highest recorded value was 5.61 million people in 2000.
- What is the lowest drinking water services in rural areas recorded in Madagascar?
- The lowest recorded value was 2.89 million people in 2024.
- How does Madagascar rank for drinking water services in rural areas?
- Madagascar ranks 8th out of 178 countries with data for 2024.
- Is drinking water services in rural areas rising or falling in Madagascar?
- Over the last ten years it is down 37.1%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Madagascar 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.