Drinking water services in rural areas in Zambia
Zambia: Drinking water services in rural areas was 1.14 million people in 2024. ▼ Falling
Drinking water services in rural areas in Zambia, 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
Zambia recorded 1.14 million people for drinking water services in rural areas in 2024. That is the lowest value across all 25 years on record.
That represents a change of down 5.1% on the previous year and down 29.5% over ten years.
Over the whole period, drinking water services in rural areas in Zambia peaked at 1.79 million people in 2001 and was at its lowest, 1.14 million people, in 2024.
That places Zambia 22nd out of 178 countries with data for 2024, putting it in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 25 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 1.77 million people | 1.73 million people | 1.79 million people | 10 |
| 2010s | 1.58 million people | 1.42 million people | 1.71 million people | 10 |
| 2020s | 1.26 million people | 1.14 million people | 1.37 million people | 5 |
Countries ranked near Zambia
More environment data for Zambia
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF 38.52 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF per capita 1.81 t CO2e/capita (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Agriculture 6.39 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Building (Energy) 2.21 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Fugitive Emissions (Energy) 8.56 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Industrial Combustion (Energy) 0.0539 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions (total) excluding LULUCF 18.28 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Power Industry (Energy) 0.0026 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Transport (Energy) 0.0155 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Waste 1.04 Mt CO2e (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is drinking water services in rural areas in Zambia?
- Drinking water services in rural areas in Zambia was 1.14 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 Zambia?
- The highest recorded value was 1.79 million people in 2001.
- What is the lowest drinking water services in rural areas recorded in Zambia?
- The lowest recorded value was 1.14 million people in 2024.
- How does Zambia rank for drinking water services in rural areas?
- Zambia ranks 22nd out of 178 countries with data for 2024.
- Is drinking water services in rural areas rising or falling in Zambia?
- Over the last ten years it is down 29.5%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Zambia 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.