People in rural areas not using an improved water source in Lesotho
Lesotho: People in rural areas not using an improved water source was 271,214 people in 2024. ▼ Falling
People in rural areas not using an improved water source in Lesotho, 2000–2024
Source: WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene (2025) – processed by Our World in Data. Measured in people.
Analysis
Lesotho recorded 271,214 people for people in rural areas not using an improved water source in 2024. That is the lowest value across all 25 years on record.
That represents a change of down 2.2% on the previous year and down 16.9% over ten years.
Over the whole period, people in rural areas not using an improved water source in Lesotho peaked at 447,370 people in 2000 and was at its lowest, 271,214 people, in 2024.
That places Lesotho 72nd out of 178 countries with data for 2024, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 25 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 396,764 people | 354,520 people | 447,370 people | 10 |
| 2010s | 324,155 people | 300,959 people | 348,033 people | 10 |
| 2020s | 283,445 people | 271,214 people | 295,410 people | 5 |
Countries ranked near Lesotho
More environment data for Lesotho
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF 3.06 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF per capita 1.31 t CO2e/capita (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Agriculture 0.7882 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Building (Energy) 0.2847 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Fugitive Emissions (Energy) 0.3356 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Industrial Combustion (Energy) 0.0003 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions (total) excluding LULUCF 1.6 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Power Industry (Energy) 0.0002 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Transport (Energy) 0.0038 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Waste 0.1865 Mt CO2e (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is people in rural areas not using an improved water source in Lesotho?
- People in rural areas not using an improved water source in Lesotho was 271,214 people 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 people in rural areas not using an improved water source recorded in Lesotho?
- The highest recorded value was 447,370 people in 2000.
- What is the lowest people in rural areas not using an improved water source recorded in Lesotho?
- The lowest recorded value was 271,214 people in 2024.
- How does Lesotho rank for people in rural areas not using an improved water source?
- Lesotho ranks 72nd out of 178 countries with data for 2024.
- Is people in rural areas not using an improved water source rising or falling in Lesotho?
- Over the last ten years it is down 16.9%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Lesotho 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 People in rural areas not using an improved water source. 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
Number of people not using improved drinking water sources. These people might use surface water sources or unprotected springs or wells, as no safe and reliable improved drinking water source is available to them.