People not using safely managed drinking water sources in North Korea
North Korea: People not using safely managed drinking water sources was 8.82 million people in 2023. ▲ Rising
People not using safely managed drinking water sources in North Korea, 2000–2023
Source: WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene (2025) – processed by Our World in Data. Measured in people.
Analysis
In 2023, people not using safely managed drinking water sources in North Korea stood at 8.82 million people. That is the highest value across all 24 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is up 0.1% on the previous year and up 6.5% over ten years.
Over the whole period, people not using safely managed drinking water sources in North Korea peaked at 8.82 million people in 2023 and was at its lowest, 7.34 million people, in 2000.
North Korea ranks 36th of 163 countries on this measure, in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 24 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 7.60 million people | 7.34 million people | 7.96 million people | 10 |
| 2010s | 8.41 million people | 8.04 million people | 8.77 million people | 10 |
| 2020s | 8.80 million people | 8.79 million people | 8.82 million people | 4 |
Countries ranked near North Korea
More environment data for North Korea
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF 91.25 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF per capita 3.44 t CO2e/capita (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Agriculture 3.43 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Building (Energy) 1.16 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Fugitive Emissions (Energy) 10.95 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Industrial Combustion (Energy) 0.0937 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions (total) excluding LULUCF 20.12 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Power Industry (Energy) 0.003 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Transport (Energy) 0.014 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Waste 4.46 Mt CO2e (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is people not using safely managed drinking water sources in North Korea?
- People not using safely managed drinking water sources in North Korea was 8.82 million people in 2023, 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 North Korea?
- The highest recorded value was 8.82 million people in 2023.
- What is the lowest people not using safely managed drinking water sources recorded in North Korea?
- The lowest recorded value was 7.34 million people in 2000.
- How does North Korea rank for people not using safely managed drinking water sources?
- North Korea ranks 36th out of 163 countries with data for 2023.
- Is people not using safely managed drinking water sources rising or falling in North Korea?
- Over the last ten years it is up 6.5%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this North Korea 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 — 24 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.