Using at least basic drinking water sources in urban vs. rural areas in Democratic Republic of Congo

Democratic Republic of Congo: Using at least basic drinking water sources in urban vs. rural areas was 59.3% in 2024. ▼ Falling

Latest (2024)
59.3%
Change on year
unchanged
World rank
187th
of 188 countries
All-time high
70.7%
in 2000
All-time low
59.3%
in 2022
Years of data
25
2000–2024

Using at least basic drinking water sources in urban vs. rural areas in Democratic Republic of Congo, 2000–2024

0204060802000201220242000: 70.7 %2001: 70.3 %2002: 69.9 %2003: 69.4 %2004: 69 %2005: 68.5 %2006: 68 %2007: 67.6 %2008: 67.1 %2009: 66.6 %2010: 66.1 %2011: 65.6 %2012: 65 %2013: 64.5 %2014: 64 %2015: 63.4 %2016: 62.9 %2017: 62.3 %2018: 61.7 %2019: 61.1 %2020: 60.5 %2021: 59.9 %2022: 59.3 %2023: 59.3 %2024: 59.3 %

Source: WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene (2025) – processed by Our World in Data. Measured in %.

Analysis

In 2024, using at least basic drinking water sources in urban vs. rural areas in Democratic Republic of Congo stood at 59.3%. That is the lowest value across all 25 years on record.

That represents a change of down 7.3% over ten years.

Over the whole period, using at least basic drinking water sources in urban vs. rural areas in Democratic Republic of Congo peaked at 70.7% in 2000 and was at its lowest, 59.3%, in 2022.

Democratic Republic of Congo ranks 187th of 188 countries on this measure, in the bottom quarter.

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

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
2000s 68.7% 66.6% 70.7% 10
2010s 63.7% 61.1% 66.1% 10
2020s 59.7% 59.3% 60.5% 5

Countries ranked near Democratic Republic of Congo

  1. 184 Togo 73.6% compare
  2. 185 Guinea-Bissau 72.7% compare
  3. 186 South Sudan 66.1% compare
  4. 188 Central African Republic 48.1% compare

See the full ranking of 188 places →

More environment data for Democratic Republic of Congo

All data for Democratic Republic of Congo →

Frequently asked questions

What is using at least basic drinking water sources in urban vs. rural areas in Democratic Republic of Congo?
Using at least basic drinking water sources in urban vs. rural areas in Democratic Republic of Congo was 59.3% 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 at least basic drinking water sources in urban vs. rural areas recorded in Democratic Republic of Congo?
The highest recorded value was 70.7% in 2000.
What is the lowest using at least basic drinking water sources in urban vs. rural areas recorded in Democratic Republic of Congo?
The lowest recorded value was 59.3% in 2022.
How does Democratic Republic of Congo rank for using at least basic drinking water sources in urban vs. rural areas?
Democratic Republic of Congo ranks 187th out of 188 countries with data for 2024.
Is using at least basic drinking water sources in urban vs. rural areas rising or falling in Democratic Republic of Congo?
Over the last ten years it is down 7.3%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
Where does this Democratic Republic of Congo 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 at least basic drinking water sources 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 at least basic drinking water sources 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
188 places, 4,631 data points, 2000–2024
Last refreshed

Proportion of people who use an improved drinking water source, which is either located on their premises, or at a collection point, which takes no more than 30 minutes for a roundtrip.