Share of urban and rural population using safely managed drinking water in Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone: Share of urban and rural population using safely managed drinking water was 12.5% in 2024. ▲ Rising
Share of urban and rural population using safely managed drinking water in Sierra Leone, 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 urban and rural population using safely managed drinking water in Sierra Leone stood at 12.5%. That is the highest value across all 25 years on record.
That represents a change of up 0.6% on the previous year and up 6.4% over ten years.
Over the whole period, share of urban and rural population using safely managed drinking water in Sierra Leone peaked at 12.5% in 2024 and was at its lowest, 10.7%, in 2000.
Sierra Leone ranks 103rd of 105 countries on this measure, in the bottom quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 25 years of available data.
Share of urban and rural population using safely managed drinking water in Sierra Leone, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 10.7% | — |
| 2001 | 10.8% | +0.7% |
| 2002 | 10.8% | +0.7% |
| 2003 | 10.9% | +0.7% |
| 2004 | 11.0% | +0.7% |
| 2005 | 11.1% | +0.7% |
| 2006 | 11.1% | +0.7% |
| 2007 | 11.2% | +0.7% |
| 2008 | 11.3% | +0.7% |
| 2009 | 11.4% | +0.7% |
| 2010 | 11.4% | +0.7% |
| 2011 | 11.5% | +0.7% |
| 2012 | 11.6% | +0.7% |
| 2013 | 11.7% | +0.6% |
| 2014 | 11.7% | +0.6% |
| 2015 | 11.8% | +0.6% |
| 2016 | 11.9% | +0.6% |
| 2017 | 12.0% | +0.6% |
| 2018 | 12.0% | +0.6% |
| 2019 | 12.1% | +0.6% |
| 2020 | 12.2% | +0.6% |
| 2021 | 12.3% | +0.6% |
| 2022 | 12.3% | +0.6% |
| 2023 | 12.4% | +0.6% |
| 2024 | 12.5% | +0.6% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 11.0% | 10.7% | 11.4% | 10 |
| 2010s | 11.8% | 11.4% | 12.1% | 10 |
| 2020s | 12.3% | 12.2% | 12.5% | 5 |
Countries ranked near Sierra Leone
More environment data for Sierra Leone
- Historical exposure to drought — Land soil moisture anomaly -5.4 Percentage change (2025)
- Historical exposure to drought — Cropland soil moisture anomaly -5.39 Percentage change (2025)
- Standard Deviation, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Standard Deviation 0.232 °C (2025)
- Temperature change 1.28 °C (2025)
- Paper and paperboard — Import quantity, annual growth rate -31.66 % change on previous year (2024)
- Paper and paperboard — Import quantity, per unit of GDP 0 t per US$ of GDP (2024)
- Paper and paperboard — Import quantity, per capita 0.0003 t per person (2024)
- Paper and paperboard — Import value, annual growth rate -31.69 % change on previous year (2024)
- Paper and paperboard — Import value, per unit of GDP 0 1000 USD per US$ of GDP (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is share of urban and rural population using safely managed drinking water in Sierra Leone?
- Share of urban and rural population using safely managed drinking water in Sierra Leone was 12.5% 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 urban and rural population using safely managed drinking water recorded in Sierra Leone?
- The highest recorded value was 12.5% in 2024.
- What is the lowest share of urban and rural population using safely managed drinking water recorded in Sierra Leone?
- The lowest recorded value was 10.7% in 2000.
- How does Sierra Leone rank for share of urban and rural population using safely managed drinking water?
- Sierra Leone ranks 103rd out of 105 countries with data for 2024.
- Is share of urban and rural population using safely managed drinking water rising or falling in Sierra Leone?
- Over the last ten years it is up 6.4%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Sierra Leone 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 urban and rural population using safely managed drinking water. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
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CSV · JSON — 25 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Proportion of people using an improved drinking water source that is located on premises, available when needed and free from fecal and priority chemical contamination.