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.
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
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF 350.56 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF per capita 1.51 t CO2e/capita (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Agriculture 56.75 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Building (Energy) 8.67 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Fugitive Emissions (Energy) 75.63 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Industrial Combustion (Energy) 0.1661 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions (total) excluding LULUCF 175.13 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Power Industry (Energy) 0.0267 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Transport (Energy) 0.5526 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Waste 33.33 Mt CO2e (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.