People not using improved drinking water sources in Nepal
Nepal: People not using improved drinking water sources was 873,006 people in 2024. ▼ Falling
People not using improved drinking water sources in Nepal, 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
Nepal recorded 873,006 people for people not using improved drinking water sources in 2024. That is the lowest value across all 25 years on record.
That represents a change of down 17.4% on the previous year and down 66.3% over ten years.
Over the whole period, people not using improved drinking water sources in Nepal peaked at 4.69 million people in 2000 and was at its lowest, 873,006 people, in 2024.
Nepal ranks 58th of 231 countries on this measure, in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 25 years of available data.
People not using improved drinking water sources in Nepal, year by year
| Year | people | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 4.69 million people | — |
| 2001 | 4.58 million people | -2.4% |
| 2002 | 4.47 million people | -2.4% |
| 2003 | 4.35 million people | -2.7% |
| 2004 | 4.22 million people | -3.0% |
| 2005 | 4.09 million people | -3.3% |
| 2006 | 3.94 million people | -3.6% |
| 2007 | 3.79 million people | -3.9% |
| 2008 | 3.63 million people | -4.2% |
| 2009 | 3.46 million people | -4.5% |
| 2010 | 3.30 million people | -4.8% |
| 2011 | 3.13 million people | -5.2% |
| 2012 | 2.95 million people | -5.7% |
| 2013 | 2.77 million people | -6.1% |
| 2014 | 2.59 million people | -6.4% |
| 2015 | 2.42 million people | -6.6% |
| 2016 | 2.25 million people | -7.2% |
| 2017 | 2.07 million people | -8.0% |
| 2018 | 1.89 million people | -8.6% |
| 2019 | 1.73 million people | -8.5% |
| 2020 | 1.58 million people | -8.8% |
| 2021 | 1.42 million people | -10.1% |
| 2022 | 1.24 million people | -12.3% |
| 2023 | 1.06 million people | -14.9% |
| 2024 | 873,006 people | -17.4% |
Nepal compared with similar countries
- Nepal's 873,006 people is below the median for lower middle income countries, which is 912,712 people, 96% of the median. (46 countries reporting)
- Nepal's 873,006 people is above the median for South Asia, which is 849,050 people, 1.0× the median. (6 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 4.12 million people | 3.46 million people | 4.69 million people | 10 |
| 2010s | 2.51 million people | 1.73 million people | 3.30 million people | 10 |
| 2020s | 1.23 million people | 873,006 people | 1.58 million people | 5 |
Countries ranked near Nepal
More environment data for Nepal
- Historical exposure to drought — Land soil moisture anomaly 2.73 Percentage change (2025)
- Historical exposure to drought — Cropland soil moisture anomaly 2.41 Percentage change (2025)
- Standard Deviation, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Standard Deviation 0.265 °C (2025)
- Temperature change 1.43 °C (2025)
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF (Mt CO2e), annual -1.54 % 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 -6.53 % 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 people not using improved drinking water sources in Nepal?
- People not using improved drinking water sources in Nepal was 873,006 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 not using improved drinking water sources recorded in Nepal?
- The highest recorded value was 4.69 million people in 2000.
- What is the lowest people not using improved drinking water sources recorded in Nepal?
- The lowest recorded value was 873,006 people in 2024.
- How does Nepal rank for people not using improved drinking water sources?
- Nepal ranks 58th out of 231 countries with data for 2024.
- Is people not using improved drinking water sources rising or falling in Nepal?
- Over the last ten years it is down 66.3%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Nepal 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 not using improved drinking water sources. 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 not using improved drinking water sources. These people might use surface water sources or unprotected springs or wells, as no safe and reliable improved drinking water source is available to them.