People not using safely managed drinking water sources in South Africa
South Africa: People not using safely managed drinking water sources was 20.48 million people in 2024. ▲ Rising
People not using safely managed drinking water sources in South Africa, 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
South Africa recorded 20.48 million people for people not using safely managed drinking water sources in 2024. That is the highest value across all 25 years on record.
That represents a change of up 3.0% on the previous year and up 19.4% over ten years.
Over the whole period, people not using safely managed drinking water sources in South Africa peaked at 20.48 million people in 2024 and was at its lowest, 16.31 million people, in 2006.
That places South Africa 21st 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 | 16.69 million people | 16.31 million people | 17.33 million people | 10 |
| 2010s | 17.23 million people | 16.54 million people | 18.04 million people | 10 |
| 2020s | 19.33 million people | 18.29 million people | 20.48 million people | 5 |
Countries ranked near South Africa
More environment data for South Africa
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF 569.81 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF per capita 8.9 t CO2e/capita (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Agriculture 25.85 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Building (Energy) 1.31 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Fugitive Emissions (Energy) 40 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Industrial Combustion (Energy) 0.1686 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions (total) excluding LULUCF 93.23 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Power Industry (Energy) 0.055 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Transport (Energy) 0.1946 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Waste 25.44 Mt CO2e (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is people not using safely managed drinking water sources in South Africa?
- People not using safely managed drinking water sources in South Africa was 20.48 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 South Africa?
- The highest recorded value was 20.48 million people in 2024.
- What is the lowest people not using safely managed drinking water sources recorded in South Africa?
- The lowest recorded value was 16.31 million people in 2006.
- How does South Africa rank for people not using safely managed drinking water sources?
- South Africa ranks 21st out of 163 countries with data for 2024.
- Is people not using safely managed drinking water sources rising or falling in South Africa?
- Over the last ten years it is up 19.4%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this South Africa 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.