People not using safely managed drinking water sources in Ireland
Ireland: People not using safely managed drinking water sources was 203,632 people in 2024. ▼ Falling
People not using safely managed drinking water sources in Ireland, 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
Ireland recorded 203,632 people for people not using safely managed drinking water sources in 2024. That is the lowest value across all 25 years on record.
That represents a change of down 10.4% on the previous year and down 65.7% over ten years.
Over the whole period, people not using safely managed drinking water sources in Ireland peaked at 984,778 people in 2004 and was at its lowest, 203,632 people, in 2024.
Ireland ranks 96th of 163 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 25 years of available data.
People not using safely managed drinking water sources in Ireland, year by year
| Year | people | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 935,755 people | — |
| 2001 | 947,073 people | +1.2% |
| 2002 | 959,446 people | +1.3% |
| 2003 | 971,136 people | +1.2% |
| 2004 | 984,778 people | +1.4% |
| 2005 | 955,947 people | -2.9% |
| 2006 | 931,021 people | -2.6% |
| 2007 | 906,903 people | -2.6% |
| 2008 | 874,073 people | -3.6% |
| 2009 | 831,381 people | -4.9% |
| 2010 | 784,226 people | -5.7% |
| 2011 | 736,203 people | -6.1% |
| 2012 | 688,202 people | -6.5% |
| 2013 | 640,790 people | -6.9% |
| 2014 | 594,470 people | -7.2% |
| 2015 | 549,157 people | -7.6% |
| 2016 | 478,819 people | -12.8% |
| 2017 | 407,687 people | -14.9% |
| 2018 | 335,524 people | -17.7% |
| 2019 | 311,441 people | -7.2% |
| 2020 | 290,754 people | -6.6% |
| 2021 | 269,183 people | -7.4% |
| 2022 | 248,655 people | -7.6% |
| 2023 | 227,269 people | -8.6% |
| 2024 | 203,632 people | -10.4% |
Ireland compared with similar countries
- Ireland's 203,632 people is above the median for high income countries, which is 30,638 people, 6.6× the median. (68 countries reporting)
- Ireland's 203,632 people is above the median for Europe & Central Asia, which is 199,164 people, 1.0× the median. (53 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 929,751 people | 831,381 people | 984,778 people | 10 |
| 2010s | 552,652 people | 311,441 people | 784,226 people | 10 |
| 2020s | 247,899 people | 203,632 people | 290,754 people | 5 |
Countries ranked near Ireland
More environment data for Ireland
- Historical exposure to drought — Land soil moisture anomaly 2.51 Percentage change (2025)
- Historical exposure to drought — Cropland soil moisture anomaly 2.17 Percentage change (2025)
- Standard Deviation, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Standard Deviation 0.412 °C (2025)
- Temperature change 1.89 °C (2025)
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF (Mt CO2e), annual -1.13 % 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 -0.0083 % 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 safely managed drinking water sources in Ireland?
- People not using safely managed drinking water sources in Ireland was 203,632 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 Ireland?
- The highest recorded value was 984,778 people in 2004.
- What is the lowest people not using safely managed drinking water sources recorded in Ireland?
- The lowest recorded value was 203,632 people in 2024.
- How does Ireland rank for people not using safely managed drinking water sources?
- Ireland ranks 96th out of 163 countries with data for 2024.
- Is people not using safely managed drinking water sources rising or falling in Ireland?
- Over the last ten years it is down 65.7%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Ireland 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
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.