Share of population not using improved drinking water sources in Ethiopia
Ethiopia: Share of population not using improved drinking water sources was 16.7% in 2024. ▼ Falling
Share of population not using improved drinking water sources in Ethiopia, 2000–2024
Source: WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene (2025) – processed by Our World in Data. Measured in %.
Analysis
Ethiopia recorded 16.7% for share of population not using improved drinking water sources in 2024. That is the lowest value across all 25 years on record.
That represents a change of down 11.7% on the previous year and down 58.0% over ten years.
Over the whole period, share of population not using improved drinking water sources in Ethiopia peaked at 74.2% in 2000 and was at its lowest, 16.7%, in 2024.
Ethiopia ranks 23rd 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.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 63.1% | 52.0% | 74.2% | 10 |
| 2010s | 38.7% | 28.0% | 49.5% | 10 |
| 2020s | 21.2% | 16.7% | 25.7% | 5 |
Countries ranked near Ethiopia
More environment data for Ethiopia
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF 192.7 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF per capita 1.46 t CO2e/capita (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Agriculture 87.11 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Building (Energy) 12.61 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Fugitive Emissions (Energy) 18.3 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Industrial Combustion (Energy) 0.0131 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions (total) excluding LULUCF 131.63 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Power Industry (Energy) 0 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Transport (Energy) 0.0409 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Waste 13.56 Mt CO2e (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is share of population not using improved drinking water sources in Ethiopia?
- Share of population not using improved drinking water sources in Ethiopia was 16.7% 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 Ethiopia?
- The highest recorded value was 74.2% in 2000.
- What is the lowest share of population not using improved drinking water sources recorded in Ethiopia?
- The lowest recorded value was 16.7% in 2024.
- How does Ethiopia rank for share of population not using improved drinking water sources?
- Ethiopia ranks 23rd out of 231 countries with data for 2024.
- Is share of population not using improved drinking water sources rising or falling in Ethiopia?
- Over the last ten years it is down 58.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Ethiopia 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.