Using improved water sources: urban vs. rural population in Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone: Using improved water sources: urban vs. rural population was 92.3% in 2024. ▲ Rising
Using improved water sources: urban vs. rural population in Sierra Leone, 2000–2024
Source: WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene (2025) – processed by Our World in Data. Measured in %.
Analysis
Sierra Leone recorded 92.3% for using improved water sources: urban vs. rural population in 2024. That is the highest value across all 25 years on record.
That represents a change of up 0.6% on the previous year and up 6.4% over ten years.
Over the whole period, using improved water sources: urban vs. rural population in Sierra Leone peaked at 92.3% in 2024 and was at its lowest, 79.0%, in 2000.
That places Sierra Leone 175th 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 Sierra Leone, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 79.0% | — |
| 2001 | 79.5% | +0.7% |
| 2002 | 80.1% | +0.7% |
| 2003 | 80.6% | +0.7% |
| 2004 | 81.2% | +0.7% |
| 2005 | 81.8% | +0.7% |
| 2006 | 82.3% | +0.7% |
| 2007 | 82.9% | +0.7% |
| 2008 | 83.4% | +0.7% |
| 2009 | 84.0% | +0.7% |
| 2010 | 84.5% | +0.7% |
| 2011 | 85.1% | +0.7% |
| 2012 | 85.6% | +0.7% |
| 2013 | 86.2% | +0.6% |
| 2014 | 86.7% | +0.6% |
| 2015 | 87.3% | +0.6% |
| 2016 | 87.9% | +0.6% |
| 2017 | 88.4% | +0.6% |
| 2018 | 89.0% | +0.6% |
| 2019 | 89.5% | +0.6% |
| 2020 | 90.1% | +0.6% |
| 2021 | 90.6% | +0.6% |
| 2022 | 91.2% | +0.6% |
| 2023 | 91.7% | +0.6% |
| 2024 | 92.3% | +0.6% |
Sierra Leone compared with similar countries
- Sierra Leone's 92.3% is below the median for low income countries, which is 96.0%, 96% of the median. (25 countries reporting)
- Sierra Leone's 92.3% is below the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 96.6%, 96% of the median. (47 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 81.5% | 79.0% | 84.0% | 10 |
| 2010s | 87.0% | 84.5% | 89.5% | 10 |
| 2020s | 91.2% | 90.1% | 92.3% | 5 |
Countries ranked near Sierra Leone
More environment data for Sierra Leone
- Historical exposure to drought — Land soil moisture anomaly -5.4 Percentage change (2025)
- Historical exposure to drought — Cropland soil moisture anomaly -5.39 Percentage change (2025)
- Standard Deviation, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Standard Deviation 0.232 °C (2025)
- Temperature change 1.28 °C (2025)
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF (Mt CO2e), annual 1.72 % 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 1.11 % 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 using improved water sources: urban vs. rural population in Sierra Leone?
- Using improved water sources: urban vs. rural population in Sierra Leone was 92.3% 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 using improved water sources: urban vs. rural population recorded in Sierra Leone?
- The highest recorded value was 92.3% in 2024.
- What is the lowest using improved water sources: urban vs. rural population recorded in Sierra Leone?
- The lowest recorded value was 79.0% in 2000.
- How does Sierra Leone rank for using improved water sources: urban vs. rural population?
- Sierra Leone ranks 175th out of 188 countries with data for 2024.
- Is using improved water sources: urban vs. rural population rising or falling in Sierra Leone?
- Over the last ten years it is up 6.4%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Sierra Leone 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.