People not using safely managed drinking water sources in Congo
Congo: People not using safely managed drinking water sources was 3.19 million people in 2021. ▲ Rising
People not using safely managed drinking water sources in Congo, 2000–2021
Source: WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene (2025) – processed by Our World in Data. Measured in people.
Analysis
In 2021, people not using safely managed drinking water sources in Congo stood at 3.19 million people. That is the highest value across all 22 years on record.
That represents a change of up 2.1% on the previous year and up 18.2% over ten years.
Over the whole period, people not using safely managed drinking water sources in Congo peaked at 3.19 million people in 2021 and was at its lowest, 2.27 million people, in 2000.
Congo ranks 54th of 163 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 22 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 2.49 million people | 2.27 million people | 2.65 million people | 10 |
| 2010s | 2.84 million people | 2.69 million people | 3.06 million people | 10 |
| 2020s | 3.16 million people | 3.12 million people | 3.19 million people | 2 |
Countries ranked near Congo
More environment data for Congo
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF 24.62 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF per capita 3.89 t CO2e/capita (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Agriculture 0.4604 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Building (Energy) 0.4601 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Fugitive Emissions (Energy) 13.3 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Industrial Combustion (Energy) 0.0013 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions (total) excluding LULUCF 14.96 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Power Industry (Energy) 0.0052 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Transport (Energy) 0.0073 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Waste 0.7254 Mt CO2e (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is people not using safely managed drinking water sources in Congo?
- People not using safely managed drinking water sources in Congo was 3.19 million people in 2021, 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 Congo?
- The highest recorded value was 3.19 million people in 2021.
- What is the lowest people not using safely managed drinking water sources recorded in Congo?
- The lowest recorded value was 2.27 million people in 2000.
- How does Congo rank for people not using safely managed drinking water sources?
- Congo ranks 54th out of 163 countries with data for 2021.
- Is people not using safely managed drinking water sources rising or falling in Congo?
- Over the last ten years it is up 18.2%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this 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 — 22 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
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.