People using improved drinking water sources in Malawi
Malawi: People using improved drinking water sources was 904,718 people in 2024. ▼ Falling
People using improved drinking water sources in Malawi, 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
Malawi recorded 904,718 people for people using improved drinking water sources in 2024. That is the lowest value across all 25 years on record.
The figure is down 13.9% on the previous year and down 56.1% over ten years.
Over the whole period, people using improved drinking water sources in Malawi peaked at 2.74 million people in 2000 and was at its lowest, 904,718 people, in 2024.
That places Malawi 49th out of 231 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.
People using improved drinking water sources in Malawi, year by year
| Year | people | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 2.74 million people | — |
| 2001 | 2.71 million people | -1.2% |
| 2002 | 2.67 million people | -1.3% |
| 2003 | 2.64 million people | -1.3% |
| 2004 | 2.60 million people | -1.4% |
| 2005 | 2.56 million people | -1.5% |
| 2006 | 2.52 million people | -1.6% |
| 2007 | 2.48 million people | -1.7% |
| 2008 | 2.44 million people | -1.8% |
| 2009 | 2.39 million people | -2.0% |
| 2010 | 2.34 million people | -2.2% |
| 2011 | 2.28 million people | -2.5% |
| 2012 | 2.21 million people | -2.9% |
| 2013 | 2.14 million people | -3.3% |
| 2014 | 2.06 million people | -3.7% |
| 2015 | 1.98 million people | -4.1% |
| 2016 | 1.88 million people | -4.6% |
| 2017 | 1.79 million people | -5.2% |
| 2018 | 1.68 million people | -5.9% |
| 2019 | 1.57 million people | -6.7% |
| 2020 | 1.45 million people | -7.6% |
| 2021 | 1.32 million people | -8.7% |
| 2022 | 1.19 million people | -10.0% |
| 2023 | 1.05 million people | -11.7% |
| 2024 | 904,718 people | -13.9% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 2.58 million people | 2.39 million people | 2.74 million people | 10 |
| 2010s | 1.99 million people | 1.57 million people | 2.34 million people | 10 |
| 2020s | 1.18 million people | 904,718 people | 1.45 million people | 5 |
Countries ranked near Malawi
More environment data for Malawi
- Historical exposure to drought — Land soil moisture anomaly -0.9153 Percentage change (2025)
- Historical exposure to drought — Cropland soil moisture anomaly -0.8098 Percentage change (2025)
- Standard Deviation, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Standard Deviation 0.254 °C (2025)
- Temperature change 1.07 °C (2025)
- Wood-based panels — Import quantity, annual growth rate 11.31 % change on previous year (2024)
- Wood-based panels — Import quantity, per unit of GDP 0 m3 per US$ of GDP (2024)
- Wood-based panels — Import quantity, per capita 0.0003 m3 per person (2024)
- Wood-based panels — Import value, annual growth rate 29.83 % change on previous year (2024)
- Wood-based panels — Import value, per unit of GDP 0 1000 USD per US$ of GDP (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is people using improved drinking water sources in Malawi?
- People using improved drinking water sources in Malawi was 904,718 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 people using improved drinking water sources recorded in Malawi?
- The highest recorded value was 2.74 million people in 2000.
- What is the lowest people using improved drinking water sources recorded in Malawi?
- The lowest recorded value was 904,718 people in 2024.
- How does Malawi rank for people using improved drinking water sources?
- Malawi ranks 49th out of 231 countries with data for 2024.
- Is people using improved drinking water sources rising or falling in Malawi?
- Over the last ten years it is down 56.1%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Malawi 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 People using improved drinking water sources. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
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CSV · JSON — 25 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Number of people using only unimproved drinking water sources.