Drinking water services in rural areas in Somalia

Somalia: Drinking water services in rural areas was 542,348 people in 2024. ▼ Falling

Latest (2024)
542,348 people
Change on year
down 14.0%
World rank
37th
of 178 countries
All-time high
1.76 million people
in 2004
All-time low
542,348 people
in 2024
Years of data
25
2000–2024

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

500.0k750.0k1.0M1.2M1.5M1.8M2000201220242000: 1.6M people2001: 1.6M people2002: 1.7M people2003: 1.7M people2004: 1.8M people2005: 1.7M people2006: 1.7M people2007: 1.7M people2008: 1.7M people2009: 1.6M people2010: 1.5M people2011: 1.4M people2012: 1.3M people2013: 1.3M people2014: 1.2M people2015: 1.2M people2016: 1.1M people2017: 1.1M people2018: 1.0M people2019: 943.6k people2020: 875.0k people2021: 800.7k people2022: 717.3k people2023: 630.6k people2024: 542.3k 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 Somalia stood at 542,348 people. That is the lowest value across all 25 years on record.

The figure is down 14.0% on the previous year and down 55.9% over ten years.

Over the whole period, drinking water services in rural areas in Somalia peaked at 1.76 million people in 2004 and was at its lowest, 542,348 people, in 2024.

Somalia ranks 37th 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.

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
2000s 1.68 million people 1.57 million people 1.76 million people 10
2010s 1.21 million people 943,598 people 1.51 million people 10
2020s 713,215 people 542,348 people 875,034 people 5

Countries ranked near Somalia

  1. 34 Tajikistan 565,346 people compare
  2. 35 Togo 559,167 people compare
  3. 36 Bolivia 548,454 people compare
  4. 38 Algeria 534,400 people compare
  5. 39 Eritrea 528,044 people compare
  6. 40 Burundi 485,989 people compare

See the full ranking of 178 places →

More environment data for Somalia

All data for Somalia →

Frequently asked questions

What is drinking water services in rural areas in Somalia?
Drinking water services in rural areas in Somalia was 542,348 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 Somalia?
The highest recorded value was 1.76 million people in 2004.
What is the lowest drinking water services in rural areas recorded in Somalia?
The lowest recorded value was 542,348 people in 2024.
How does Somalia rank for drinking water services in rural areas?
Somalia ranks 37th out of 178 countries with data for 2024.
Is drinking water services in rural areas rising or falling in Somalia?
Over the last ten years it is down 55.9%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
Where does this Somalia 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.