Share of the rural population using at least a basic drinking water services in Cameroon

Cameroon: Share of the rural population using at least a basic drinking water services was 56.2% in 2024. ▲ Rising

Latest (2024)
56.2%
Change on year
up 2.0%
World rank
157th
of 178 countries
All-time high
56.2%
in 2024
All-time low
33.4%
in 2000
Years of data
25
2000–2024

Share of the rural population using at least a basic drinking water services in Cameroon, 2000–2024

02040602000201220242000: 33.4 %2001: 34.4 %2002: 35.5 %2003: 36.5 %2004: 37.6 %2005: 38.6 %2006: 39.6 %2007: 40.6 %2008: 41.6 %2009: 42.6 %2010: 43.5 %2011: 44.5 %2012: 45.4 %2013: 46.4 %2014: 47.3 %2015: 48.2 %2016: 49.1 %2017: 50 %2018: 50.9 %2019: 51.8 %2020: 52.6 %2021: 53.5 %2022: 54.3 %2023: 55.2 %2024: 56.2 %

Source: WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene (2025) – processed by Our World in Data. Measured in %.

Analysis

The most recent figure for share of the rural population using at least a basic drinking water services in Cameroon is 56.2%, measured in 2024. That is the highest value across all 25 years on record.

That represents a change of up 2.0% on the previous year and up 18.9% over ten years.

Over the whole period, share of the rural population using at least a basic drinking water services in Cameroon peaked at 56.2% in 2024 and was at its lowest, 33.4%, in 2000.

Cameroon ranks 157th of 178 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

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
2000s 38.0% 33.4% 42.6% 10
2010s 47.7% 43.5% 51.8% 10
2020s 54.4% 52.6% 56.2% 5

Countries ranked near Cameroon

  1. 154 Togo 57.5% compare
  2. 155 Sierra Leone 57.0% compare
  3. 156 Uganda 56.6% compare
  4. 158 Kenya 55.6% compare
  5. 159 Rwanda 55.6% compare
  6. 160 Haiti 54.7% compare

See the full ranking of 178 places →

More environment data for Cameroon

All data for Cameroon →

Frequently asked questions

What is share of the rural population using at least a basic drinking water services in Cameroon?
Share of the rural population using at least a basic drinking water services in Cameroon was 56.2% 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 Cameroon?
The highest recorded value was 56.2% in 2024.
What is the lowest share of the rural population using at least a basic drinking water services recorded in Cameroon?
The lowest recorded value was 33.4% in 2000.
How does Cameroon rank for share of the rural population using at least a basic drinking water services?
Cameroon ranks 157th 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 Cameroon?
Over the last ten years it is up 18.9%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
Where does this Cameroon 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

Indicator
Share of the rural population using at least a basic drinking water services
Unit
%
Source
WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene (2025) – processed by Our World in Data
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
178 places, 4,351 data points, 2000–2024
Last refreshed

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.