People not using safely managed drinking water sources in Nepal
Nepal: People not using safely managed drinking water sources was 24.76 million people in 2024. ▲ Rising
People not using safely managed drinking water sources in Nepal, 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
Nepal recorded 24.76 million people for people not using safely managed drinking water sources in 2024.
That represents a change of down 0.3% on the previous year and up 22.5% over ten years.
Over the whole period, people not using safely managed drinking water sources in Nepal peaked at 24.90 million people in 2022 and was at its lowest, 17.97 million people, in 2000.
That places Nepal 17th out of 163 countries with data for 2024, putting it in the top 10%.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 25 years of available data.
People not using safely managed drinking water sources in Nepal, year by year
| Year | people | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 17.97 million people | — |
| 2001 | 18.19 million people | +1.2% |
| 2002 | 18.40 million people | +1.2% |
| 2003 | 18.60 million people | +1.1% |
| 2004 | 18.77 million people | +0.9% |
| 2005 | 18.92 million people | +0.8% |
| 2006 | 19.03 million people | +0.6% |
| 2007 | 19.13 million people | +0.5% |
| 2008 | 19.20 million people | +0.4% |
| 2009 | 19.27 million people | +0.3% |
| 2010 | 19.32 million people | +0.3% |
| 2011 | 19.34 million people | +0.1% |
| 2012 | 19.32 million people | -0.1% |
| 2013 | 19.75 million people | +2.2% |
| 2014 | 20.21 million people | +2.3% |
| 2015 | 20.74 million people | +2.6% |
| 2016 | 21.26 million people | +2.5% |
| 2017 | 21.73 million people | +2.2% |
| 2018 | 22.22 million people | +2.3% |
| 2019 | 22.93 million people | +3.2% |
| 2020 | 23.84 million people | +4.0% |
| 2021 | 24.74 million people | +3.8% |
| 2022 | 24.90 million people | +0.7% |
| 2023 | 24.84 million people | -0.2% |
| 2024 | 24.76 million people | -0.3% |
Nepal compared with similar countries
- Nepal's 24.76 million people is above the median for lower middle income countries, which is 7.56 million people, 3.3× the median. (31 countries reporting)
- Nepal's 24.76 million people is above the median for South Asia, which is 24.76 million people, 1.0× the median. (5 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 18.75 million people | 17.97 million people | 19.27 million people | 10 |
| 2010s | 20.68 million people | 19.32 million people | 22.93 million people | 10 |
| 2020s | 24.62 million people | 23.84 million people | 24.90 million people | 5 |
Countries ranked near Nepal
- 14 Afghanistan 29.62 million people compare
- 15 Mozambique 25.09 million people compare
- 16 Madagascar 24.91 million people compare
- 18 Egypt 24.54 million people compare
- 19 Brazil 24.12 million people compare
- 20 Myanmar 21.95 million people compare
More environment data for Nepal
- Historical exposure to drought — Land soil moisture anomaly 2.73 Percentage change (2025)
- Historical exposure to drought — Cropland soil moisture anomaly 2.41 Percentage change (2025)
- Standard Deviation, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Standard Deviation 0.265 °C (2025)
- Temperature change 1.43 °C (2025)
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF (Mt CO2e), annual -1.54 % 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 -6.53 % 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 Nepal?
- People not using safely managed drinking water sources in Nepal was 24.76 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 Nepal?
- The highest recorded value was 24.90 million people in 2022.
- What is the lowest people not using safely managed drinking water sources recorded in Nepal?
- The lowest recorded value was 17.97 million people in 2000.
- How does Nepal rank for people not using safely managed drinking water sources?
- Nepal ranks 17th out of 163 countries with data for 2024.
- Is people not using safely managed drinking water sources rising or falling in Nepal?
- Over the last ten years it is up 22.5%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Nepal 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.