People not using improved drinking water sources in Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone: People not using improved drinking water sources was 2.11 million people in 2024. ▼ Falling
People not using improved drinking water sources in Sierra Leone, 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
Sierra Leone recorded 2.11 million people for people not using improved drinking water sources in 2024. That is the lowest value across all 25 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is down 2.5% on the previous year and down 15.4% over ten years.
Over the whole period, people not using improved drinking water sources in Sierra Leone peaked at 2.61 million people in 2005 and was at its lowest, 2.11 million people, in 2024.
Sierra Leone ranks 34th 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.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 2.54 million people | 2.32 million people | 2.61 million people | 10 |
| 2010s | 2.47 million people | 2.34 million people | 2.56 million people | 10 |
| 2020s | 2.21 million people | 2.11 million people | 2.30 million people | 5 |
Countries ranked near Sierra Leone
More environment data for Sierra Leone
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF 7.93 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF per capita 0.9174 t CO2e/capita (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Agriculture 2.62 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Building (Energy) 0.7175 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Fugitive Emissions (Energy) 1.45 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Industrial Combustion (Energy) 0.0007 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions (total) excluding LULUCF 5.57 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Power Industry (Energy) 0.0004 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Transport (Energy) 0.005 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Waste 0.7846 Mt CO2e (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is people not using improved drinking water sources in Sierra Leone?
- People not using improved drinking water sources in Sierra Leone was 2.11 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 people not using improved drinking water sources recorded in Sierra Leone?
- The highest recorded value was 2.61 million people in 2005.
- What is the lowest people not using improved drinking water sources recorded in Sierra Leone?
- The lowest recorded value was 2.11 million people in 2024.
- How does Sierra Leone rank for people not using improved drinking water sources?
- Sierra Leone ranks 34th out of 231 countries with data for 2024.
- Is people not using improved drinking water sources rising or falling in Sierra Leone?
- Over the last ten years it is down 15.4%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Sierra Leone 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.