People not using safely managed drinking water sources in Democratic Republic of Congo

Democratic Republic of Congo: People not using safely managed drinking water sources was 96.30 million people in 2024. ▲ Rising

Latest (2024)
96.30 million people
Change on year
up 3.1%
World rank
6th
of 163 countries
All-time high
96.30 million people
in 2024
All-time low
44.34 million people
in 2000
Years of data
25
2000–2024

People not using safely managed drinking water sources in Democratic Republic of Congo, 2000–2024

020.0M40.0M60.0M80.0M100.0M2000201220242000: 44.3M people2001: 45.8M people2002: 47.2M people2003: 48.6M people2004: 50.1M people2005: 51.6M people2006: 53.3M people2007: 54.9M people2008: 56.6M people2009: 58.4M people2010: 60.3M people2011: 62.4M people2012: 64.6M people2013: 66.8M people2014: 69.2M people2015: 71.6M people2016: 74.2M people2017: 77.1M people2018: 79.8M people2019: 82.4M people2020: 85.3M people2021: 87.9M people2022: 90.5M people2023: 93.4M people2024: 96.3M people

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, people not using safely managed drinking water sources in Democratic Republic of Congo stood at 96.30 million people. That is the highest value across all 25 years on record.

That represents a change of up 3.1% on the previous year and up 39.2% over ten years.

Over the whole period, people not using safely managed drinking water sources in Democratic Republic of Congo peaked at 96.30 million people in 2024 and was at its lowest, 44.34 million people, in 2000.

That places Democratic Republic of Congo 6th out of 163 countries with data for 2024, putting it in the top 10%.

The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 25 years of available data.

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
2000s 51.08 million people 44.34 million people 58.42 million people 10
2010s 70.84 million people 60.34 million people 82.44 million people 10
2020s 90.67 million people 85.25 million people 96.30 million people 5

Countries ranked near Democratic Republic of Congo

  1. 3 Nigeria 163.10 million people compare
  2. 4 Pakistan 138.26 million people compare
  3. 5 Ethiopia 114.17 million people compare
  4. 7 Mexico 74.63 million people compare
  5. 8 Bangladesh 70.94 million people compare
  6. 9 Philippines 59.68 million people compare

See the full ranking of 163 places →

More environment data for Democratic Republic of Congo

All data for Democratic Republic of Congo →

Frequently asked questions

What is people not using safely managed drinking water sources in Democratic Republic of Congo?
People not using safely managed drinking water sources in Democratic Republic of Congo was 96.30 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 safely managed drinking water sources recorded in Democratic Republic of Congo?
The highest recorded value was 96.30 million people in 2024.
What is the lowest people not using safely managed drinking water sources recorded in Democratic Republic of Congo?
The lowest recorded value was 44.34 million people in 2000.
How does Democratic Republic of Congo rank for people not using safely managed drinking water sources?
Democratic Republic of Congo ranks 6th out of 163 countries with data for 2024.
Is people not using safely managed drinking water sources rising or falling in Democratic Republic of Congo?
Over the last ten years it is up 39.2%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
Where does this Democratic Republic of Congo 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 safely managed 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

Indicator
People not using safely managed drinking water sources
Unit
people
Source
WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene (2025) – processed by Our World in Data
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
163 places, 3,991 data points, 2000–2024
Last refreshed

People not using safely managed drinking water sources either use unimproved drinking water sources or the improved sources they use are not located on their premises, not available when needed, or not free of contamination.