Share of the rural population using at least a basic drinking water services in Nigeria
Nigeria: Share of the rural population using at least a basic drinking water services was 66.6% in 2024. ▲ Rising
Share of the rural population using at least a basic drinking water services in Nigeria, 2000–2024
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 Nigeria is 66.6%, measured in 2024. That is the highest value across all 25 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is up 2.0% on the previous year and up 29.8% over ten years.
Over the whole period, share of the rural population using at least a basic drinking water services in Nigeria peaked at 66.6% in 2024 and was at its lowest, 31.5%, in 2000.
That places Nigeria 141st out of 178 countries with data for 2024, putting it 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 | 37.6% | 31.5% | 43.9% | 10 |
| 2010s | 52.1% | 45.4% | 58.9% | 10 |
| 2020s | 63.6% | 60.5% | 66.6% | 5 |
Countries ranked near Nigeria
More environment data for Nigeria
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF 350.56 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF per capita 1.51 t CO2e/capita (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Agriculture 56.75 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Building (Energy) 8.67 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Fugitive Emissions (Energy) 75.63 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Industrial Combustion (Energy) 0.1661 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions (total) excluding LULUCF 175.13 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Power Industry (Energy) 0.0267 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Transport (Energy) 0.5526 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Waste 33.33 Mt CO2e (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is share of the rural population using at least a basic drinking water services in Nigeria?
- Share of the rural population using at least a basic drinking water services in Nigeria was 66.6% 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 Nigeria?
- The highest recorded value was 66.6% in 2024.
- What is the lowest share of the rural population using at least a basic drinking water services recorded in Nigeria?
- The lowest recorded value was 31.5% in 2000.
- How does Nigeria rank for share of the rural population using at least a basic drinking water services?
- Nigeria ranks 141st 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 Nigeria?
- Over the last ten years it is up 29.8%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Nigeria 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.