Share of the rural population using at least a basic drinking water services in Nepal
Nepal: Share of the rural population using at least a basic drinking water services was 94.0% in 2024. ▲ Rising
Share of the rural population using at least a basic drinking water services in Nepal, 2000–2024
Source: WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene (2025) – processed by Our World in Data. Measured in %.
Analysis
Nepal recorded 94.0% for share of the rural population using at least a basic drinking water services in 2024. That is the highest value across all 25 years on record.
That represents a change of up 0.7% on the previous year and up 7.7% over ten years.
Over the whole period, share of the rural population using at least a basic drinking water services in Nepal peaked at 94.0% in 2024 and was at its lowest, 77.7%, in 2000.
That places Nepal 85th 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 Nepal, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 77.7% | — |
| 2001 | 78.4% | +0.9% |
| 2002 | 79.1% | +0.9% |
| 2003 | 79.8% | +0.9% |
| 2004 | 80.5% | +0.9% |
| 2005 | 81.2% | +0.9% |
| 2006 | 81.8% | +0.8% |
| 2007 | 82.5% | +0.8% |
| 2008 | 83.2% | +0.8% |
| 2009 | 83.9% | +0.8% |
| 2010 | 84.6% | +0.8% |
| 2011 | 85.3% | +0.8% |
| 2012 | 85.9% | +0.8% |
| 2013 | 86.6% | +0.8% |
| 2014 | 87.3% | +0.8% |
| 2015 | 88.0% | +0.8% |
| 2016 | 88.7% | +0.8% |
| 2017 | 89.3% | +0.8% |
| 2018 | 90.0% | +0.8% |
| 2019 | 90.7% | +0.7% |
| 2020 | 91.3% | +0.7% |
| 2021 | 92.0% | +0.7% |
| 2022 | 92.7% | +0.7% |
| 2023 | 93.4% | +0.7% |
| 2024 | 94.0% | +0.7% |
Nepal compared with similar countries
- Nepal's 94.0% is above the median for lower middle income countries, which is 75.4%, 1.2× the median. (44 countries reporting)
- Nepal's 94.0% is below the median for South Asia, which is 96.9%, 97% of the median. (6 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 80.8% | 77.7% | 83.9% | 10 |
| 2010s | 87.6% | 84.6% | 90.7% | 10 |
| 2020s | 92.7% | 91.3% | 94.0% | 5 |
Countries ranked near Nepal
More environment data for Nepal
- Historical exposure to drought — Land soil moisture anomaly 2.73 Percentage change (2025)
- Historical exposure to drought — Cropland soil moisture anomaly 2.41 Percentage change (2025)
- Standard Deviation, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Standard Deviation 0.265 °C (2025)
- Temperature change 1.43 °C (2025)
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF (Mt CO2e), annual -1.54 % change on previous year (2024)
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF (Mt CO2e), per unit 0 Mt CO2e per US$ of GDP (2024)
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF (Mt CO2e), per capita 0 Mt CO2e per person (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Agriculture (Mt CO2e), annual growth rate -6.53 % change on previous year (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Agriculture (Mt CO2e), per unit of GDP 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 Nepal?
- Share of the rural population using at least a basic drinking water services in Nepal was 94.0% 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 Nepal?
- The highest recorded value was 94.0% in 2024.
- What is the lowest share of the rural population using at least a basic drinking water services recorded in Nepal?
- The lowest recorded value was 77.7% in 2000.
- How does Nepal rank for share of the rural population using at least a basic drinking water services?
- Nepal ranks 85th 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 Nepal?
- Over the last ten years it is up 7.7%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Nepal 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.