People not using safely managed drinking water sources in Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone: People not using safely managed drinking water sources was 7.70 million people in 2024. ▲ Rising
People not using safely managed drinking water sources in Sierra Leone, 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
In 2024, people not using safely managed drinking water sources in Sierra Leone stood at 7.70 million people. That is the highest value across all 25 years on record.
The figure is up 1.8% on the previous year and up 22.0% over ten years.
Over the whole period, people not using safely managed drinking water sources in Sierra Leone peaked at 7.70 million people in 2024 and was at its lowest, 4.20 million people, in 2000.
That places Sierra Leone 38th out of 163 countries with data for 2024, putting it in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 25 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 5.02 million people | 4.20 million people | 5.63 million people | 10 |
| 2010s | 6.38 million people | 5.78 million people | 7.00 million people | 10 |
| 2020s | 7.42 million people | 7.14 million people | 7.70 million people | 5 |
Countries ranked near Sierra Leone
- 35 Guatemala 9.43 million people compare
- 36 North Korea 8.82 million people compare
- 37 United States 8.40 million people compare
- 39 Morocco 7.62 million people compare
- 40 Togo 7.56 million people compare
- 41 Uzbekistan 6.57 million people compare
More environment data for Sierra Leone
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF 7.93 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF per capita 0.9174 t CO2e/capita (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Agriculture 2.62 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Building (Energy) 0.7175 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Fugitive Emissions (Energy) 1.45 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Industrial Combustion (Energy) 0.0007 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions (total) excluding LULUCF 5.57 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Power Industry (Energy) 0.0004 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Transport (Energy) 0.005 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Waste 0.7846 Mt CO2e (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is people not using safely managed drinking water sources in Sierra Leone?
- People not using safely managed drinking water sources in Sierra Leone was 7.70 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 Sierra Leone?
- The highest recorded value was 7.70 million people in 2024.
- What is the lowest people not using safely managed drinking water sources recorded in Sierra Leone?
- The lowest recorded value was 4.20 million people in 2000.
- How does Sierra Leone rank for people not using safely managed drinking water sources?
- Sierra Leone ranks 38th out of 163 countries with data for 2024.
- Is people not using safely managed drinking water sources rising or falling in Sierra Leone?
- Over the last ten years it is up 22.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Sierra Leone 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.