Share of population using at least a basic drinking water source in Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone: Share of population using at least a basic drinking water source was 68.1% in 2024. ▲ Rising
Share of population using at least a basic drinking water source 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 %.
Analysis
In 2024, share of population using at least a basic drinking water source in Sierra Leone stood at 68.1%. That is the highest value across all 25 years on record.
That represents a change of up 1.7% on the previous year and up 20.7% over ten years.
Over the whole period, share of population using at least a basic drinking water source in Sierra Leone peaked at 68.1% in 2024 and was at its lowest, 40.9%, in 2000.
Sierra Leone ranks 209th of 231 countries on this measure, in the bottom 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 | 45.3% | 40.9% | 50.5% | 10 |
| 2010s | 57.0% | 51.7% | 62.2% | 10 |
| 2020s | 65.7% | 63.4% | 68.1% | 5 |
Countries ranked near Sierra Leone
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 share of population using at least a basic drinking water source in Sierra Leone?
- Share of population using at least a basic drinking water source in Sierra Leone was 68.1% 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 share of population using at least a basic drinking water source recorded in Sierra Leone?
- The highest recorded value was 68.1% in 2024.
- What is the lowest share of population using at least a basic drinking water source recorded in Sierra Leone?
- The lowest recorded value was 40.9% in 2000.
- How does Sierra Leone rank for share of population using at least a basic drinking water source?
- Sierra Leone ranks 209th out of 231 countries with data for 2024.
- Is share of population using at least a basic drinking water source rising or falling in Sierra Leone?
- Over the last ten years it is up 20.7%. 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 Share of population using at least a basic drinking water source. 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
Proportion of people who use an improved drinking water source, which is either located on their premises, or at a collection point, which takes no more than 30 minutes for a roundtrip.