Share of population not using improved drinking water sources in Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea: Share of population not using improved drinking water sources was 39.4% in 2024. ▼ Falling
Share of population not using improved drinking water sources in Papua New Guinea, 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 Papua New Guinea stood at 39.4%. That is the lowest value across all 25 years on record.
That represents a change of down 3.8% on the previous year and down 28.0% over ten years.
Over the whole period, share of population not using improved drinking water sources in Papua New Guinea peaked at 69.8% in 2004 and was at its lowest, 39.4%, in 2024.
Papua New Guinea ranks 3rd 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 | 67.5% | 62.3% | 69.8% | 10 |
| 2010s | 54.0% | 47.2% | 60.8% | 10 |
| 2020s | 42.5% | 39.4% | 45.6% | 5 |
Countries ranked near Papua New Guinea
- 1 Democratic Republic of Congo 40.2% compare
- 2 Madagascar 39.6% compare
- 4 Central African Republic 36.7% compare
- 5 Chad 35.2% compare
- 6 Equatorial Guinea 32.4% compare
More environment data for Papua New Guinea
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF 10.76 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF per capita 1.02 t CO2e/capita (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Agriculture 0.4503 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Building (Energy) 0.4689 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Fugitive Emissions (Energy) 1.92 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Industrial Combustion (Energy) 0.003 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions (total) excluding LULUCF 3.71 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Power Industry (Energy) 0.0024 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Transport (Energy) 0.0104 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Waste 0.8618 Mt CO2e (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is share of population not using improved drinking water sources in Papua New Guinea?
- Share of population not using improved drinking water sources in Papua New Guinea was 39.4% 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 Papua New Guinea?
- The highest recorded value was 69.8% in 2004.
- What is the lowest share of population not using improved drinking water sources recorded in Papua New Guinea?
- The lowest recorded value was 39.4% in 2024.
- How does Papua New Guinea rank for share of population not using improved drinking water sources?
- Papua New Guinea ranks 3rd out of 231 countries with data for 2024.
- Is share of population not using improved drinking water sources rising or falling in Papua New Guinea?
- Over the last ten years it is down 28.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Papua New Guinea 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.