Share of the rural population using at least a basic drinking water services in Zambia
Zambia: Share of the rural population using at least a basic drinking water services was 58.5% in 2024. ▲ Rising
Share of the rural population using at least a basic drinking water services in Zambia, 2000–2024
Source: WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene (2025) – processed by Our World in Data. Measured in %.
Analysis
In 2024, share of the rural population using at least a basic drinking water services in Zambia stood at 58.5%. That is the highest value across all 25 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is up 2.3% on the previous year and up 28.8% over ten years.
Over the whole period, share of the rural population using at least a basic drinking water services in Zambia peaked at 58.5% in 2024 and was at its lowest, 27.0%, in 2000.
That places Zambia 153rd 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 | 33.0% | 27.0% | 38.9% | 10 |
| 2010s | 46.0% | 40.2% | 51.8% | 10 |
| 2020s | 55.8% | 53.1% | 58.5% | 5 |
Countries ranked near Zambia
More environment data for Zambia
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF 38.52 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF per capita 1.81 t CO2e/capita (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Agriculture 6.39 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Building (Energy) 2.21 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Fugitive Emissions (Energy) 8.56 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Industrial Combustion (Energy) 0.0539 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions (total) excluding LULUCF 18.28 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Power Industry (Energy) 0.0026 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Transport (Energy) 0.0155 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Waste 1.04 Mt CO2e (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is share of the rural population using at least a basic drinking water services in Zambia?
- Share of the rural population using at least a basic drinking water services in Zambia was 58.5% 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 Zambia?
- The highest recorded value was 58.5% in 2024.
- What is the lowest share of the rural population using at least a basic drinking water services recorded in Zambia?
- The lowest recorded value was 27.0% in 2000.
- How does Zambia rank for share of the rural population using at least a basic drinking water services?
- Zambia ranks 153rd 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 Zambia?
- Over the last ten years it is up 28.8%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Zambia 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.