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

Namibia: Share of the rural population using at least a basic drinking water services was 74.3% in 2024. ▲ Rising

Latest (2024)
74.3%
Change on year
up 0.5%
World rank
134th
of 178 countries
All-time high
74.3%
in 2024
All-time low
65.8%
in 2000
Years of data
25
2000–2024

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

0204060802000201220242000: 65.8 %2001: 66.1 %2002: 66.5 %2003: 66.8 %2004: 67.2 %2005: 67.5 %2006: 67.9 %2007: 68.2 %2008: 68.6 %2009: 69 %2010: 69.3 %2011: 69.7 %2012: 70 %2013: 70.4 %2014: 70.7 %2015: 71.1 %2016: 71.4 %2017: 71.8 %2018: 72.1 %2019: 72.5 %2020: 72.8 %2021: 73.2 %2022: 73.6 %2023: 74 %2024: 74.3 %

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 Namibia is 74.3%, measured in 2024. That is the highest value across all 25 years on record.

That represents a change of up 0.5% on the previous year and up 5.1% over ten years.

Over the whole period, share of the rural population using at least a basic drinking water services in Namibia peaked at 74.3% in 2024 and was at its lowest, 65.8%, in 2000.

Namibia ranks 134th 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 67.4% 65.8% 69.0% 10
2010s 70.9% 69.3% 72.5% 10
2020s 73.6% 72.8% 74.3% 5

Countries ranked near Namibia

  1. 131 Oman 76.3% compare
  2. 132 Afghanistan 74.8% compare
  3. 133 Eswatini 74.4% compare
  4. 135 Sao Tome and Principe 73.4% compare
  5. 136 South Africa 73.0% compare
  6. 137 Lesotho 70.6% compare

See the full ranking of 178 places →

More environment data for Namibia

All data for Namibia →

Frequently asked questions

What is share of the rural population using at least a basic drinking water services in Namibia?
Share of the rural population using at least a basic drinking water services in Namibia was 74.3% 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 Namibia?
The highest recorded value was 74.3% in 2024.
What is the lowest share of the rural population using at least a basic drinking water services recorded in Namibia?
The lowest recorded value was 65.8% in 2000.
How does Namibia rank for share of the rural population using at least a basic drinking water services?
Namibia ranks 134th 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 Namibia?
Over the last ten years it is up 5.1%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
Where does this Namibia 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.