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

Latest (2024)
203,632 people
Change on year
down 10.4%
Rank
96th
of 163 regions
All-time high
984,778 people
in 2004
All-time low
203,632 people
in 2024
Years of data
25
2000–2024

People not using safely managed drinking water sources in Ireland, 2000–2024

200.0k400.0k600.0k800.0k1.0M2000201220242000: 935.8k people2001: 947.1k people2002: 959.4k people2003: 971.1k people2004: 984.8k people2005: 955.9k people2006: 931.0k people2007: 906.9k people2008: 874.1k people2009: 831.4k people2010: 784.2k people2011: 736.2k people2012: 688.2k people2013: 640.8k people2014: 594.5k people2015: 549.2k people2016: 478.8k people2017: 407.7k people2018: 335.5k people2019: 311.4k people2020: 290.8k people2021: 269.2k people2022: 248.7k people2023: 227.3k people2024: 203.6k people

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 regions on this measure, in the middle of the range.

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

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest 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

  1. 93 Vanuatu 264,853 people compare
  2. 94 Spain 259,452 people compare
  3. 95 Bulgaria 256,314 people compare
  4. 97 Czechia 199,164 people compare
  5. 98 France 191,194 people compare
  6. 99 United Arab Emirates 149,823 people compare

See the full ranking of 163 places →

More environment data for Ireland

All data for Ireland →

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 regions 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

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.