Using safely managed drinking water in urban vs. rural areas in Sierra Leone

Sierra Leone: Using safely managed drinking water in urban vs. rural areas was 12.5% in 2024. ▲ Rising

Latest (2024)
12.5%
Change on year
up 0.6%
World rank
103rd
of 105 countries
All-time high
12.5%
in 2024
All-time low
10.7%
in 2000
Years of data
25
2000–2024

Using safely managed drinking water in urban vs. rural areas in Sierra Leone, 2000–2024

02.557.51012.52000201220242000: 10.7 %2001: 10.8 %2002: 10.8 %2003: 10.9 %2004: 11 %2005: 11.1 %2006: 11.1 %2007: 11.2 %2008: 11.3 %2009: 11.4 %2010: 11.4 %2011: 11.5 %2012: 11.6 %2013: 11.7 %2014: 11.7 %2015: 11.8 %2016: 11.9 %2017: 12 %2018: 12 %2019: 12.1 %2020: 12.2 %2021: 12.3 %2022: 12.3 %2023: 12.4 %2024: 12.5 %

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 safely managed drinking water in urban vs. rural areas in Sierra Leone is 12.5%, measured in 2024. That is the highest value across all 25 years on record.

The figure is up 0.6% on the previous year and up 6.4% over ten years.

Over the whole period, using safely managed drinking water in urban vs. rural areas in Sierra Leone peaked at 12.5% in 2024 and was at its lowest, 10.7%, in 2000.

Sierra Leone ranks 103rd of 105 countries on this measure, in the bottom quarter.

The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 25 years of available data.

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
2000s 11.0% 10.7% 11.4% 10
2010s 11.8% 11.4% 12.1% 10
2020s 12.3% 12.2% 12.5% 5

Countries ranked near Sierra Leone

  1. 100 Kiribati 20.9% compare
  2. 101 Nauru 18.7% compare
  3. 102 Chad 17.6% compare
  4. 104 Central African Republic 11.3% compare
  5. 105 Tuvalu 10.4% compare

See the full ranking of 105 places →

More environment data for Sierra Leone

All data for Sierra Leone →

Frequently asked questions

What is using safely managed drinking water in urban vs. rural areas in Sierra Leone?
Using safely managed drinking water in urban vs. rural areas in Sierra Leone was 12.5% 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 safely managed drinking water in urban vs. rural areas recorded in Sierra Leone?
The highest recorded value was 12.5% in 2024.
What is the lowest using safely managed drinking water in urban vs. rural areas recorded in Sierra Leone?
The lowest recorded value was 10.7% in 2000.
How does Sierra Leone rank for using safely managed drinking water in urban vs. rural areas?
Sierra Leone ranks 103rd out of 105 countries with data for 2024.
Is using safely managed drinking water in urban vs. rural areas 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 safely managed drinking water in urban vs. rural areas. 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

Indicator
Using safely managed drinking water in urban vs. rural areas
Unit
%
Source
WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene (2025) – processed by Our World in Data
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
105 places, 2,610 data points, 2000–2024
Last refreshed

Proportion of people using an improved drinking water source that is located on premises, available when needed and free from faecal and priority chemical contamination.