Share of population not using improved drinking water sources in Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia: Share of population not using improved drinking water sources was 0.3% in 2024. ▬ Flat
Share of population not using improved drinking water sources in Saudi Arabia, 2000–2024
Source: WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene (2025) – processed by Our World in Data. Measured in %.
Analysis
Saudi Arabia recorded 0.3% 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 0.1% on the previous year and down 0.7% over ten years.
Over the whole period, share of population not using improved drinking water sources in Saudi Arabia peaked at 0.3% in 2000 and was at its lowest, 0.3%, in 2024.
That places Saudi Arabia 148th out of 231 countries with data for 2024, putting it in the middle of the range.
Share of population not using improved drinking water sources in Saudi Arabia, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 0.3% | — |
| 2001 | 0.3% | -0.1% |
| 2002 | 0.3% | -0.1% |
| 2003 | 0.3% | -0.1% |
| 2004 | 0.3% | -0.1% |
| 2005 | 0.3% | -0.1% |
| 2006 | 0.3% | -0.1% |
| 2007 | 0.3% | -0.1% |
| 2008 | 0.3% | -0.1% |
| 2009 | 0.3% | -0.1% |
| 2010 | 0.3% | -0.1% |
| 2011 | 0.3% | -0.1% |
| 2012 | 0.3% | -0.1% |
| 2013 | 0.3% | -0.1% |
| 2014 | 0.3% | -0.1% |
| 2015 | 0.3% | -0.1% |
| 2016 | 0.3% | -0.1% |
| 2017 | 0.3% | -0.1% |
| 2018 | 0.3% | -0.1% |
| 2019 | 0.3% | -0.1% |
| 2020 | 0.3% | -0.1% |
| 2021 | 0.3% | -0.1% |
| 2022 | 0.3% | -0.1% |
| 2023 | 0.3% | -0.1% |
| 2024 | 0.3% | -0.1% |
Saudi Arabia compared with similar countries
- Saudi Arabia's 0.3% is above the median for high income countries, which is 0.0%, 36657.1× the median. (85 countries reporting)
- Saudi Arabia's 0.3% is above the median for Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan, which is 0.3%, 1.1× the median. (23 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 0.3% | 0.3% | 0.3% | 10 |
| 2010s | 0.3% | 0.3% | 0.3% | 10 |
| 2020s | 0.3% | 0.3% | 0.3% | 5 |
Countries ranked near Saudi Arabia
More environment data for Saudi Arabia
- Historical exposure to drought — Land soil moisture anomaly -52.52 Percentage change (2025)
- Historical exposure to drought — Cropland soil moisture anomaly -27.86 Percentage change (2025)
- Standard Deviation, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Standard Deviation 0.424 °C (2025)
- Temperature change 1.58 °C (2025)
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF (Mt CO2e), annual 2.53 % 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 9.62 % change on previous year (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Agriculture (Mt CO2e), per unit of GDP 0 Mt CO2e per US$ of GDP (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is share of population not using improved drinking water sources in Saudi Arabia?
- Share of population not using improved drinking water sources in Saudi Arabia was 0.3% 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 Saudi Arabia?
- The highest recorded value was 0.3% in 2000.
- What is the lowest share of population not using improved drinking water sources recorded in Saudi Arabia?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.3% in 2024.
- How does Saudi Arabia rank for share of population not using improved drinking water sources?
- Saudi Arabia ranks 148th out of 231 countries with data for 2024.
- Is share of population not using improved drinking water sources rising or falling in Saudi Arabia?
- Over the last ten years it is down 0.7%. The long-run trend across the full record is flat.
- Where does this Saudi Arabia 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.