Percentage of population using safely managed drinking water services in Sub-Saharan Africa
Sub-Saharan Africa: Percentage of population using safely managed drinking water services was 32 % in 2024. ▲ Rising
Percentage of population using safely managed drinking water services in Sub-Saharan Africa, 2000–2024
Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Measured in %.
Analysis
The most recent figure for percentage of population using safely managed drinking water services in Sub-Saharan Africa is 32 %, measured in 2024. That is the highest value across all 25 years on record.
The figure is up 3.2% on the previous year and up 28.0% over ten years.
Over the whole period, percentage of population using safely managed drinking water services in Sub-Saharan Africa peaked at 32 % in 2024 and was at its lowest, 17 %, in 2000.
That places Sub-Saharan Africa 25th out of 27 groups with data for 2024, putting it in the bottom quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 25 years of available data.
Percentage of population using safely managed drinking water services in Sub-Saharan Africa, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 17 % | — |
| 2001 | 18 % | +5.9% |
| 2002 | 18 % | +0.0% |
| 2003 | 18 % | +0.0% |
| 2004 | 19 % | +5.6% |
| 2005 | 20 % | +5.3% |
| 2006 | 20 % | +0.0% |
| 2007 | 21 % | +5.0% |
| 2008 | 21 % | +0.0% |
| 2009 | 22 % | +4.8% |
| 2010 | 23 % | +4.5% |
| 2011 | 23 % | +0.0% |
| 2012 | 24 % | +4.3% |
| 2013 | 24 % | +0.0% |
| 2014 | 25 % | +4.2% |
| 2015 | 26 % | +4.0% |
| 2016 | 27 % | +3.8% |
| 2017 | 28 % | +3.7% |
| 2018 | 28 % | +0.0% |
| 2019 | 29 % | +3.6% |
| 2020 | 30 % | +3.4% |
| 2021 | 30 % | +0.0% |
| 2022 | 31 % | +3.3% |
| 2023 | 31 % | +0.0% |
| 2024 | 32 % | +3.2% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 19.4 % | 17 % | 22 % | 10 |
| 2010s | 25.7 % | 23 % | 29 % | 10 |
| 2020s | 30.8 % | 30 % | 32 % | 5 |
Countries ranked near Sub-Saharan Africa
More environment data for Sub-Saharan Africa
- Standard Deviation, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Historical exposure to drought — Land soil moisture anomaly -7.11 Percentage change (2025)
- Historical exposure to drought — Cropland soil moisture anomaly -6.36 Percentage change (2025)
- Standard Deviation 0.223 °C (2025)
- Temperature change 1.21 °C (2025)
- Nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions (total) excluding LULUCF 305.43 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Aquaculture production 904,662 metric tons (2024)
- Nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions from Power Industry (Energy) 2.29 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions from Transport (Energy) 2.96 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Permanent meadows and pastures — Share in Agricultural land 72.81 % (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is percentage of population using safely managed drinking water services in Sub-Saharan Africa?
- Percentage of population using safely managed drinking water services in Sub-Saharan Africa was 32 % in 2024, according to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
- What is the highest percentage of population using safely managed drinking water services recorded in Sub-Saharan Africa?
- The highest recorded value was 32 % in 2024.
- What is the lowest percentage of population using safely managed drinking water services recorded in Sub-Saharan Africa?
- The lowest recorded value was 17 % in 2000.
- How does Sub-Saharan Africa rank for percentage of population using safely managed drinking water services?
- Sub-Saharan Africa ranks 25th out of 27 groups with data for 2024.
- Is percentage of population using safely managed drinking water services rising or falling in Sub-Saharan Africa?
- Over the last ten years it is up 28.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Sub-Saharan Africa data come from?
- The figures come from Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, published as part of Percentage of population using safely managed drinking water services (percent) — Value. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
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CSV · JSON — 25 observations, free to reuse under CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO (FAO).
About this data
The Suite of Food Security Indicators presents the core set of food security indicators. Following the recommendation of experts gathered in the Committee on World Food Security (CFS) Round Table on hunger measurement, hosted at FAO headquarters in September 2011, an initial set of indicators aiming to capture various aspects of food insecurity is presented here. The choice of the indicators has been informed by expert judgement and the availability of data with sufficient coverage to enable comparisons across regions and over time. Many of these indicators are produced and published elsewhere by FAO and other international organizations. They are reported here in a single database with the aim of building a wide food security information system. More indicators will be added to this set as more data will become available. Indicators are classified along the four dimensions of food security -- availability, access, utilization and stability.