Using improved water sources: urban vs. rural population in Ethiopia
Ethiopia: Using improved water sources: urban vs. rural population was 96.9% in 2024. ▲ Rising
Using improved water sources: urban vs. rural population 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
The most recent figure for using improved water sources: urban vs. rural population in Ethiopia is 96.9%, measured in 2024. That is the highest value across all 25 years on record.
That represents a change of up 0.3% on the previous year and up 2.9% over ten years.
Over the whole period, using improved water sources: urban vs. rural population in Ethiopia peaked at 96.9% in 2024 and was at its lowest, 90.3%, in 2000.
That places Ethiopia 152nd out of 188 countries with data for 2024, putting it in the bottom quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 25 years of available data.
Using improved water sources: urban vs. rural population in Ethiopia, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 90.3% | — |
| 2001 | 90.6% | +0.3% |
| 2002 | 90.9% | +0.3% |
| 2003 | 91.1% | +0.3% |
| 2004 | 91.4% | +0.3% |
| 2005 | 91.7% | +0.3% |
| 2006 | 92.0% | +0.3% |
| 2007 | 92.2% | +0.3% |
| 2008 | 92.5% | +0.3% |
| 2009 | 92.8% | +0.3% |
| 2010 | 93.1% | +0.3% |
| 2011 | 93.3% | +0.3% |
| 2012 | 93.6% | +0.3% |
| 2013 | 93.9% | +0.3% |
| 2014 | 94.1% | +0.3% |
| 2015 | 94.4% | +0.3% |
| 2016 | 94.7% | +0.3% |
| 2017 | 95.0% | +0.3% |
| 2018 | 95.2% | +0.3% |
| 2019 | 95.5% | +0.3% |
| 2020 | 95.8% | +0.3% |
| 2021 | 96.1% | +0.3% |
| 2022 | 96.3% | +0.3% |
| 2023 | 96.6% | +0.3% |
| 2024 | 96.9% | +0.3% |
Ethiopia compared with similar countries
- Ethiopia's 96.9% is above the median for low income countries, which is 96.0%, 1.0× the median. (25 countries reporting)
- Ethiopia's 96.9% is above the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 96.6%, 1.0× the median. (47 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 91.5% | 90.3% | 92.8% | 10 |
| 2010s | 94.3% | 93.1% | 95.5% | 10 |
| 2020s | 96.3% | 95.8% | 96.9% | 5 |
Countries ranked near Ethiopia
More environment data for Ethiopia
- Standard Deviation, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Standard Deviation 0.272 °C (2025)
- Temperature change 1.39 °C (2025)
- Wood-based panels — Production, annual growth rate 77.13 % change on previous year (2024)
- 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 2.83 % 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)
Frequently asked questions
- What is using improved water sources: urban vs. rural population in Ethiopia?
- Using improved water sources: urban vs. rural population in Ethiopia was 96.9% 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 using improved water sources: urban vs. rural population recorded in Ethiopia?
- The highest recorded value was 96.9% in 2024.
- What is the lowest using improved water sources: urban vs. rural population recorded in Ethiopia?
- The lowest recorded value was 90.3% in 2000.
- How does Ethiopia rank for using improved water sources: urban vs. rural population?
- Ethiopia ranks 152nd out of 188 countries with data for 2024.
- Is using improved water sources: urban vs. rural population rising or falling in Ethiopia?
- Over the last ten years it is up 2.9%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- 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 Using improved water sources: urban vs. rural population. 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 who use an improved drinking water source, regardless of collection time. An improved drinking water source is a safely designed drinking water source and includes e.g. piped water, boreholes or tubewells and packaged or delivered water.