Drinking water services in rural areas in Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea: Drinking water services in rural areas was 887,444 people in 2024. ▼ Falling
Drinking water services in rural areas in Papua New Guinea, 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 Papua New Guinea stood at 887,444 people. That is the lowest value across all 25 years on record.
The figure is down 19.7% on the previous year and down 66.3% over ten years.
Over the whole period, drinking water services in rural areas in Papua New Guinea peaked at 3.37 million people in 2004 and was at its lowest, 887,444 people, in 2024.
Papua New Guinea ranks 27th of 178 countries on this measure, in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 25 years of available data.
Drinking water services in rural areas in Papua New Guinea, year by year
| Year | people | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 2.95 million people | — |
| 2001 | 3.05 million people | +3.5% |
| 2002 | 3.15 million people | +3.4% |
| 2003 | 3.26 million people | +3.4% |
| 2004 | 3.37 million people | +3.4% |
| 2005 | 3.34 million people | -1.0% |
| 2006 | 3.29 million people | -1.3% |
| 2007 | 3.24 million people | -1.5% |
| 2008 | 3.18 million people | -1.8% |
| 2009 | 3.12 million people | -2.1% |
| 2010 | 3.04 million people | -2.4% |
| 2011 | 2.96 million people | -2.8% |
| 2012 | 2.86 million people | -3.3% |
| 2013 | 2.75 million people | -3.8% |
| 2014 | 2.63 million people | -4.3% |
| 2015 | 2.51 million people | -4.9% |
| 2016 | 2.37 million people | -5.6% |
| 2017 | 2.22 million people | -6.3% |
| 2018 | 2.06 million people | -7.2% |
| 2019 | 1.89 million people | -8.3% |
| 2020 | 1.71 million people | -9.6% |
| 2021 | 1.51 million people | -11.2% |
| 2022 | 1.31 million people | -13.3% |
| 2023 | 1.10 million people | -15.9% |
| 2024 | 887,444 people | -19.6% |
Papua New Guinea compared with similar countries
- Papua New Guinea's 887,444 people is above the median for lower middle income countries, which is 222,289 people, 4.0× the median. (44 countries reporting)
- Papua New Guinea's 887,444 people is above the median for East Asia & Pacific, which is 211.69 people, 4192.3× the median. (24 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 3.20 million people | 2.95 million people | 3.37 million people | 10 |
| 2010s | 2.53 million people | 1.89 million people | 3.04 million people | 10 |
| 2020s | 1.31 million people | 887,444 people | 1.71 million people | 5 |
Countries ranked near Papua New Guinea
More environment data for Papua New Guinea
- Historical exposure to drought — Land soil moisture anomaly 1.56 Percentage change (2025)
- Historical exposure to drought — Cropland soil moisture anomaly 2.24 Percentage change (2025)
- Standard Deviation, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Standard Deviation 0.183 °C (2025)
- Temperature change 0.834 °C (2025)
- Wood-based panels — Production, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2024)
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF (Mt CO2e), annual 0.9266 % 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 0.6032 % change on previous year (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is drinking water services in rural areas in Papua New Guinea?
- Drinking water services in rural areas in Papua New Guinea was 887,444 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 Papua New Guinea?
- The highest recorded value was 3.37 million people in 2004.
- What is the lowest drinking water services in rural areas recorded in Papua New Guinea?
- The lowest recorded value was 887,444 people in 2024.
- How does Papua New Guinea rank for drinking water services in rural areas?
- Papua New Guinea ranks 27th out of 178 countries with data for 2024.
- Is drinking water services in rural areas rising or falling in Papua New Guinea?
- Over the last ten years it is down 66.3%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Papua New Guinea 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.