Share of the rural population using at least a basic drinking water services in Bhutan
Bhutan: Share of the rural population using at least a basic drinking water services was 99.3% in 2024. ▲ Rising
Share of the rural population using at least a basic drinking water services in Bhutan, 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 the rural population using at least a basic drinking water services in Bhutan stood at 99.3%. That is the highest value across all 25 years on record.
That represents a change of up 0.1% on the previous year and up 5.4% over ten years.
Over the whole period, share of the rural population using at least a basic drinking water services in Bhutan peaked at 99.3% in 2024 and was at its lowest, 79.7%, in 2000.
That places Bhutan 48th out of 178 countries with data for 2024, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 25 years of available data.
Share of the rural population using at least a basic drinking water services in Bhutan, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 79.7% | — |
| 2001 | 80.7% | +1.2% |
| 2002 | 81.7% | +1.3% |
| 2003 | 82.7% | +1.3% |
| 2004 | 83.8% | +1.3% |
| 2005 | 84.8% | +1.2% |
| 2006 | 85.9% | +1.2% |
| 2007 | 86.9% | +1.2% |
| 2008 | 87.9% | +1.2% |
| 2009 | 89.0% | +1.2% |
| 2010 | 90.0% | +1.2% |
| 2011 | 91.1% | +1.2% |
| 2012 | 92.1% | +1.1% |
| 2013 | 93.2% | +1.1% |
| 2014 | 94.2% | +1.1% |
| 2015 | 95.3% | +1.1% |
| 2016 | 96.3% | +1.1% |
| 2017 | 97.4% | +1.1% |
| 2018 | 98.2% | +0.8% |
| 2019 | 99.0% | +0.8% |
| 2020 | 99.0% | +0.1% |
| 2021 | 99.1% | +0.1% |
| 2022 | 99.2% | +0.1% |
| 2023 | 99.2% | +0.1% |
| 2024 | 99.3% | +0.1% |
Bhutan compared with similar countries
- Bhutan's 99.3% is above the median for lower middle income countries, which is 75.4%, 1.3× the median. (44 countries reporting)
- Bhutan's 99.3% is above the median for South Asia, which is 96.9%, 1.0× the median. (6 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 84.3% | 79.7% | 89.0% | 10 |
| 2010s | 94.7% | 90.0% | 99.0% | 10 |
| 2020s | 99.2% | 99.0% | 99.3% | 5 |
Countries ranked near Bhutan
More environment data for Bhutan
- Historical exposure to drought — Land soil moisture anomaly 0.2782 Percentage change (2025)
- Historical exposure to drought — Cropland soil moisture anomaly 0.5977 Percentage change (2025)
- Standard Deviation, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Standard Deviation 0.257 °C (2025)
- Temperature change 2.08 °C (2025)
- Methane (CH4) emissions (total) excluding LULUCF (Mt CO2e), annual -1.39 % change on previous year (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions (total) excluding LULUCF (Mt CO2e), per unit 0 Mt CO2e per US$ of GDP (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions (total) excluding LULUCF (Mt CO2e), per capita 0 Mt CO2e per person (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Power Industry (Energy) (Mt CO2e) 0 % change on previous year (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Power Industry (Energy) (Mt CO2e), per 0 Mt CO2e per US$ of GDP (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is share of the rural population using at least a basic drinking water services in Bhutan?
- Share of the rural population using at least a basic drinking water services in Bhutan was 99.3% 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 the rural population using at least a basic drinking water services recorded in Bhutan?
- The highest recorded value was 99.3% in 2024.
- What is the lowest share of the rural population using at least a basic drinking water services recorded in Bhutan?
- The lowest recorded value was 79.7% in 2000.
- How does Bhutan rank for share of the rural population using at least a basic drinking water services?
- Bhutan ranks 48th out of 178 countries with data for 2024.
- Is share of the rural population using at least a basic drinking water services rising or falling in Bhutan?
- Over the last ten years it is up 5.4%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Bhutan 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 the rural population using at least a basic drinking water services. 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.