Share of the rural population using at least a basic drinking water services in Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka: Share of the rural population using at least a basic drinking water services was 88.4% in 2024. ▲ Rising
Share of the rural population using at least a basic drinking water services in Sri Lanka, 2000–2024
Source: WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene (2025) – processed by Our World in Data. Measured in %.
Analysis
Sri Lanka recorded 88.4% 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.
Compared with earlier readings it is up 3.5% over ten years.
Over the whole period, share of the rural population using at least a basic drinking water services in Sri Lanka peaked at 88.4% in 2023 and was at its lowest, 80.9%, in 2000.
Sri Lanka ranks 106th of 178 countries on this measure, 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 Sri Lanka, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 80.9% | — |
| 2001 | 81.2% | +0.4% |
| 2002 | 81.6% | +0.4% |
| 2003 | 81.9% | +0.4% |
| 2004 | 82.2% | +0.4% |
| 2005 | 82.5% | +0.4% |
| 2006 | 82.9% | +0.4% |
| 2007 | 83.2% | +0.4% |
| 2008 | 83.5% | +0.4% |
| 2009 | 83.8% | +0.4% |
| 2010 | 84.2% | +0.4% |
| 2011 | 84.5% | +0.4% |
| 2012 | 84.8% | +0.4% |
| 2013 | 85.1% | +0.4% |
| 2014 | 85.5% | +0.4% |
| 2015 | 85.8% | +0.4% |
| 2016 | 86.1% | +0.4% |
| 2017 | 86.5% | +0.4% |
| 2018 | 86.8% | +0.4% |
| 2019 | 87.1% | +0.4% |
| 2020 | 87.4% | +0.4% |
| 2021 | 87.8% | +0.4% |
| 2022 | 88.1% | +0.4% |
| 2023 | 88.4% | +0.4% |
| 2024 | 88.4% | +0.0% |
Sri Lanka compared with similar countries
- Sri Lanka's 88.4% is below the median for upper middle income countries, which is 94.8%, 93% of the median. (55 countries reporting)
- Sri Lanka's 88.4% is below the median for South Asia, which is 96.9%, 91% of the median. (6 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 82.4% | 80.9% | 83.8% | 10 |
| 2010s | 85.6% | 84.2% | 87.1% | 10 |
| 2020s | 88.0% | 87.4% | 88.4% | 5 |
Countries ranked near Sri Lanka
More environment data for Sri Lanka
- Historical exposure to drought — Land soil moisture anomaly 5.24 Percentage change (2025)
- Historical exposure to drought — Cropland soil moisture anomaly 5.49 Percentage change (2025)
- Standard Deviation, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Standard Deviation 0.207 °C (2025)
- Temperature change 0.849 °C (2025)
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF (Mt CO2e), annual 5.63 % 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 1.22 % 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 Sri Lanka?
- Share of the rural population using at least a basic drinking water services in Sri Lanka was 88.4% 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 Sri Lanka?
- The highest recorded value was 88.4% in 2023.
- What is the lowest share of the rural population using at least a basic drinking water services recorded in Sri Lanka?
- The lowest recorded value was 80.9% in 2000.
- How does Sri Lanka rank for share of the rural population using at least a basic drinking water services?
- Sri Lanka ranks 106th 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 Sri Lanka?
- Over the last ten years it is up 3.5%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Sri Lanka 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
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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.