Drinking water services in rural areas in Nepal
Nepal: Drinking water services in rural areas was 130,107 people in 2024. ▼ Falling
Drinking water services in rural areas in Nepal, 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 Nepal stood at 130,107 people. That is the lowest value across all 25 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is down 20.0% on the previous year and down 70.2% over ten years.
Over the whole period, drinking water services in rural areas in Nepal peaked at 816,137 people in 2000 and was at its lowest, 130,107 people, in 2024.
Nepal ranks 57th 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
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 711,753 people | 592,993 people | 816,137 people | 10 |
| 2010s | 422,137 people | 282,982 people | 563,250 people | 10 |
| 2020s | 194,176 people | 130,107 people | 255,572 people | 5 |
Countries ranked near Nepal
More environment data for Nepal
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF 41.47 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF per capita 1.4 t CO2e/capita (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Agriculture 15.2 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Building (Energy) 3.21 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Fugitive Emissions (Energy) 0.0608 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Industrial Combustion (Energy) 0.0611 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions (total) excluding LULUCF 20.59 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Power Industry (Energy) 0 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Transport (Energy) 0.0256 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Waste 2.05 Mt CO2e (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is drinking water services in rural areas in Nepal?
- Drinking water services in rural areas in Nepal was 130,107 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 Nepal?
- The highest recorded value was 816,137 people in 2000.
- What is the lowest drinking water services in rural areas recorded in Nepal?
- The lowest recorded value was 130,107 people in 2024.
- How does Nepal rank for drinking water services in rural areas?
- Nepal ranks 57th out of 178 countries with data for 2024.
- Is drinking water services in rural areas rising or falling in Nepal?
- Over the last ten years it is down 70.2%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Nepal 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.