Share of population not using improved drinking water sources in India
India: Share of population not using improved drinking water sources was 1.9% in 2024. ▼ Falling
Share of population not using improved drinking water sources in India, 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 India stood at 1.9%. That is the lowest value across all 25 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is down 21.4% on the previous year and down 73.9% over ten years.
Over the whole period, share of population not using improved drinking water sources in India peaked at 15.7% in 2000 and was at its lowest, 1.9%, in 2024.
That places India 101st out of 231 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 | 13.0% | 10.3% | 15.7% | 10 |
| 2010s | 7.1% | 4.6% | 9.7% | 10 |
| 2020s | 3.0% | 1.9% | 4.1% | 5 |
Countries ranked near India
More environment data for India
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF 4,371 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF per capita 3.01 t CO2e/capita (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Agriculture 572.27 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Building (Energy) 37.74 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Fugitive Emissions (Energy) 108.11 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Industrial Combustion (Energy) 4.39 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions (total) excluding LULUCF 861.61 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Power Industry (Energy) 1.01 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Transport (Energy) 2.4 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Waste 135.23 Mt CO2e (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is share of population not using improved drinking water sources in India?
- Share of population not using improved drinking water sources in India was 1.9% 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 India?
- The highest recorded value was 15.7% in 2000.
- What is the lowest share of population not using improved drinking water sources recorded in India?
- The lowest recorded value was 1.9% in 2024.
- How does India rank for share of population not using improved drinking water sources?
- India ranks 101st out of 231 countries with data for 2024.
- Is share of population not using improved drinking water sources rising or falling in India?
- Over the last ten years it is down 73.9%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this India 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.
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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 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.