Drinking water usage in urban areas in Nigeria
Nigeria: Drinking water usage in urban areas was 578,953 people in 2024. ▼ Falling
Drinking water usage in urban areas in Nigeria, 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 usage in urban areas in Nigeria stood at 578,953 people. That is the lowest value across all 25 years on record.
The figure is down 33.8% on the previous year and down 77.9% over ten years.
Over the whole period, drinking water usage in urban areas in Nigeria peaked at 3.00 million people in 2006 and was at its lowest, 578,953 people, in 2024.
That places Nigeria 4th out of 188 countries with data for 2024, putting it in the top 10%.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 25 years of available data.
Drinking water usage in urban areas in Nigeria, year by year
| Year | people | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 2.78 million people | — |
| 2001 | 2.92 million people | +5.2% |
| 2002 | 2.95 million people | +1.0% |
| 2003 | 2.97 million people | +0.8% |
| 2004 | 2.99 million people | +0.5% |
| 2005 | 3.00 million people | +0.3% |
| 2006 | 3.00 million people | +0.0% |
| 2007 | 2.99 million people | -0.2% |
| 2008 | 2.97 million people | -0.5% |
| 2009 | 2.95 million people | -0.9% |
| 2010 | 2.91 million people | -1.3% |
| 2011 | 2.86 million people | -1.7% |
| 2012 | 2.80 million people | -2.2% |
| 2013 | 2.72 million people | -2.9% |
| 2014 | 2.62 million people | -3.6% |
| 2015 | 2.50 million people | -4.4% |
| 2016 | 2.37 million people | -5.4% |
| 2017 | 2.22 million people | -6.4% |
| 2018 | 2.04 million people | -7.8% |
| 2019 | 1.85 million people | -9.5% |
| 2020 | 1.64 million people | -11.6% |
| 2021 | 1.40 million people | -14.3% |
| 2022 | 1.15 million people | -18.1% |
| 2023 | 874,296 people | -23.9% |
| 2024 | 578,953 people | -33.8% |
Nigeria compared with similar countries
- Nigeria's 578,953 people is above the median for lower middle income countries, which is 6,494 people, 89.1× the median. (44 countries reporting)
- Nigeria's 578,953 people is above the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 10,146 people, 57.1× the median. (47 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Drinking water usage in urban areas in Nigeria changed far more than this series normally does. A large move can be a real event or a change in how the figure was measured — the source note below says who published it.
| Year | Change | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | -33.8% | 874,296 people | 578,953 people |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 2.95 million people | 2.78 million people | 3.00 million people | 10 |
| 2010s | 2.49 million people | 1.85 million people | 2.91 million people | 10 |
| 2020s | 1.13 million people | 578,953 people | 1.64 million people | 5 |
Countries ranked near Nigeria
More environment data for Nigeria
- Historical exposure to drought — Land soil moisture anomaly -5.73 Percentage change (2025)
- Historical exposure to drought — Cropland soil moisture anomaly -5.07 Percentage change (2025)
- Standard Deviation, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Standard Deviation 0.281 °C (2025)
- Temperature change 1.15 °C (2025)
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF (Mt CO2e), annual 3.78 % 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 0.4617 % change on previous year (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Agriculture (Mt CO2e), per unit of GDP 0 Mt CO2e per US$ of GDP (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is drinking water usage in urban areas in Nigeria?
- Drinking water usage in urban areas in Nigeria was 578,953 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 usage in urban areas recorded in Nigeria?
- The highest recorded value was 3.00 million people in 2006.
- What is the lowest drinking water usage in urban areas recorded in Nigeria?
- The lowest recorded value was 578,953 people in 2024.
- How does Nigeria rank for drinking water usage in urban areas?
- Nigeria ranks 4th out of 188 countries with data for 2024.
- Is drinking water usage in urban areas rising or falling in Nigeria?
- Over the last ten years it is down 77.9%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Nigeria 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 usage in urban 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.