People not using safely managed drinking water sources in Japan

Japan: People not using safely managed drinking water sources was 1.58 million people in 2024. ▼ Falling

Latest (2024)
1.58 million people
Change on year
down 0.5%
World rank
65th
of 163 countries
All-time high
2.72 million people
in 2004
All-time low
1.58 million people
in 2024
Years of data
25
2000–2024

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

01.0M2.0M3.0M2000201220242000: 2.7M people2001: 2.7M people2002: 2.7M people2003: 2.7M people2004: 2.7M people2005: 2.7M people2006: 2.6M people2007: 2.6M people2008: 2.5M people2009: 2.4M people2010: 2.4M people2011: 2.3M people2012: 2.3M people2013: 2.2M people2014: 2.1M people2015: 2.1M people2016: 2.0M people2017: 2.0M people2018: 1.9M people2019: 1.8M people2020: 1.8M people2021: 1.7M people2022: 1.6M people2023: 1.6M people2024: 1.6M 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 Japan stood at 1.58 million people. That is the lowest value across all 25 years on record.

Compared with earlier readings it is down 0.5% on the previous year and down 26.4% over ten years.

Over the whole period, people not using safely managed drinking water sources in Japan peaked at 2.72 million people in 2004 and was at its lowest, 1.58 million people, in 2024.

That places Japan 65th out of 163 countries with data for 2024, putting it 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 2.64 million people 2.44 million people 2.72 million people 10
2010s 2.11 million people 1.84 million people 2.38 million people 10
2020s 1.66 million people 1.58 million people 1.78 million people 5

Countries ranked near Japan

  1. 62 Serbia 1.69 million people compare
  2. 63 Guinea-Bissau 1.67 million people compare
  3. 64 Lesotho 1.61 million people compare
  4. 66 Gambia 1.43 million people compare
  5. 67 Jordan 1.28 million people compare
  6. 68 Canada 1.24 million people compare

See the full ranking of 163 places →

More environment data for Japan

All data for Japan →

Frequently asked questions

What is people not using safely managed drinking water sources in Japan?
People not using safely managed drinking water sources in Japan was 1.58 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 Japan?
The highest recorded value was 2.72 million people in 2004.
What is the lowest people not using safely managed drinking water sources recorded in Japan?
The lowest recorded value was 1.58 million people in 2024.
How does Japan rank for people not using safely managed drinking water sources?
Japan ranks 65th out of 163 countries with data for 2024.
Is people not using safely managed drinking water sources rising or falling in Japan?
Over the last ten years it is down 26.4%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
Where does this Japan 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.