Drinking water services in rural areas in Namibia

Namibia: Drinking water services in rural areas was 79,040 people in 2024. ▼ Falling

Latest (2024)
79,040 people
Change on year
down 3.1%
World rank
64th
of 178 countries
All-time high
131,002 people
in 2000
All-time low
79,040 people
in 2024
Years of data
25
2000–2024

Drinking water services in rural areas in Namibia, 2000–2024

050.0k100.0k150.0k2000201220242000: 131.0k people2001: 130.3k people2002: 128.4k people2003: 125.9k people2004: 123.2k people2005: 120.4k people2006: 117.6k people2007: 114.8k people2008: 112.1k people2009: 109.5k people2010: 106.8k people2011: 104.3k people2012: 102.3k people2013: 100.5k people2014: 98.7k people2015: 96.9k people2016: 95.0k people2017: 93.1k people2018: 91.3k people2019: 89.4k people2020: 87.6k people2021: 85.8k people2022: 83.8k people2023: 81.5k people2024: 79.0k 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 rural areas in Namibia stood at 79,040 people. That is the lowest value across all 25 years on record.

The figure is down 3.1% on the previous year and down 19.9% over ten years.

Over the whole period, drinking water services in rural areas in Namibia peaked at 131,002 people in 2000 and was at its lowest, 79,040 people, in 2024.

Namibia ranks 64th of 178 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.

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

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
2000s 121,318 people 109,451 people 131,002 people 10
2010s 97,836 people 89,414 people 106,821 people 10
2020s 83,546 people 79,040 people 87,600 people 5

Countries ranked near Namibia

  1. 61 Turkey 96,895 people compare
  2. 62 Equatorial Guinea 95,622 people compare
  3. 63 Lesotho 82,624 people compare
  4. 65 Mali 76,905 people compare
  5. 66 North Korea 68,600 people compare
  6. 67 East Timor 68,246 people compare

See the full ranking of 178 places →

More environment data for Namibia

All data for Namibia →

Frequently asked questions

What is drinking water services in rural areas in Namibia?
Drinking water services in rural areas in Namibia was 79,040 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 Namibia?
The highest recorded value was 131,002 people in 2000.
What is the lowest drinking water services in rural areas recorded in Namibia?
The lowest recorded value was 79,040 people in 2024.
How does Namibia rank for drinking water services in rural areas?
Namibia ranks 64th out of 178 countries with data for 2024.
Is drinking water services in rural areas rising or falling in Namibia?
Over the last ten years it is down 19.9%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
Where does this Namibia 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

Indicator
Drinking water services in rural areas
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
178 places, 4,232 data points, 2000–2024
Last refreshed

Number of people using drinking water directly collected from surface waters.