Share of population not using improved drinking water sources in Democratic Republic of Congo
Democratic Republic of Congo: Share of population not using improved drinking water sources was 40.2% in 2024. ▼ Falling
Share of population not using improved drinking water sources in Democratic Republic of Congo, 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 population not using improved drinking water sources in Democratic Republic of Congo stood at 40.2%. That is the lowest value across all 25 years on record.
That represents a change of down 0.9% on the previous year and down 13.3% over ten years.
Over the whole period, share of population not using improved drinking water sources in Democratic Republic of Congo peaked at 55.0% in 2000 and was at its lowest, 40.2%, in 2024.
Democratic Republic of Congo ranks 1st of 231 countries on this measure, in the top 10%.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 25 years of available data.
Share of population not using improved drinking water sources in Democratic Republic of Congo, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 55.0% | — |
| 2001 | 54.4% | -1.1% |
| 2002 | 53.8% | -1.1% |
| 2003 | 53.2% | -1.1% |
| 2004 | 52.6% | -1.1% |
| 2005 | 52.0% | -1.1% |
| 2006 | 51.4% | -1.2% |
| 2007 | 50.8% | -1.2% |
| 2008 | 50.2% | -1.2% |
| 2009 | 49.6% | -1.2% |
| 2010 | 48.9% | -1.3% |
| 2011 | 48.3% | -1.3% |
| 2012 | 47.7% | -1.3% |
| 2013 | 47.0% | -1.4% |
| 2014 | 46.4% | -1.4% |
| 2015 | 45.7% | -1.4% |
| 2016 | 45.0% | -1.5% |
| 2017 | 44.4% | -1.5% |
| 2018 | 43.7% | -1.5% |
| 2019 | 43.0% | -1.6% |
| 2020 | 42.3% | -1.6% |
| 2021 | 41.6% | -1.6% |
| 2022 | 40.9% | -1.7% |
| 2023 | 40.5% | -0.9% |
| 2024 | 40.2% | -0.9% |
Democratic Republic of Congo compared with similar countries
- Democratic Republic of Congo's 40.2% is above the median for low income countries, which is 16.7%, 2.4× the median. (25 countries reporting)
- Democratic Republic of Congo's 40.2% is above the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 14.8%, 2.7× the median. (48 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 52.3% | 49.6% | 55.0% | 10 |
| 2010s | 46.0% | 43.0% | 48.9% | 10 |
| 2020s | 41.1% | 40.2% | 42.3% | 5 |
Countries ranked near Democratic Republic of Congo
- 2 Madagascar 39.6% compare
- 3 Papua New Guinea 39.4% compare
- 4 Central African Republic 36.7% compare
More environment data for Democratic Republic of Congo
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF (Mt CO2e), annual 2.26 % 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 5.2 % change on previous year (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Agriculture (Mt CO2e), per unit of GDP 0 Mt CO2e per US$ of GDP (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Agriculture (Mt CO2e), per capita 0 Mt CO2e per person (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Building (Energy) (Mt CO2e), annual 0 % change on previous year (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Building (Energy) (Mt CO2e), per unit of 0 Mt CO2e per US$ of GDP (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Building (Energy) (Mt CO2e), per capita 0 Mt CO2e per person (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Fugitive Emissions (Energy) (Mt CO2e) 0.338 % change on previous year (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is share of population not using improved drinking water sources in Democratic Republic of Congo?
- Share of population not using improved drinking water sources in Democratic Republic of Congo was 40.2% 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 population not using improved drinking water sources recorded in Democratic Republic of Congo?
- The highest recorded value was 55.0% in 2000.
- What is the lowest share of population not using improved drinking water sources recorded in Democratic Republic of Congo?
- The lowest recorded value was 40.2% in 2024.
- How does Democratic Republic of Congo rank for share of population not using improved drinking water sources?
- Democratic Republic of Congo ranks 1st out of 231 countries with data for 2024.
- Is share of population not using improved drinking water sources rising or falling in Democratic Republic of Congo?
- Over the last ten years it is down 13.3%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Democratic Republic of Congo 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 population not using improved drinking water sources. 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 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.