Using at least basic drinking water sources in urban vs. rural areas in Jamaica
Jamaica: Using at least basic drinking water sources in urban vs. rural areas was 90.1% in 2024. ▼ Falling
Using at least basic drinking water sources in urban vs. rural areas in Jamaica, 2000–2024
Source: WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene (2025) – processed by Our World in Data. Measured in %.
Analysis
Jamaica recorded 90.1% for using at least basic drinking water sources in urban vs. rural areas in 2024. That is the lowest value across all 25 years on record.
That represents a change of down 0.5% on the previous year and down 4.8% over ten years.
Over the whole period, using at least basic drinking water sources in urban vs. rural areas in Jamaica peaked at 98.4% in 2005 and was at its lowest, 90.1%, in 2024.
That places Jamaica 153rd out of 188 countries with data for 2024, putting it in the bottom quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 25 years of available data.
Using at least basic drinking water sources in urban vs. rural areas in Jamaica, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 98.2% | — |
| 2001 | 98.2% | +0.0% |
| 2002 | 98.3% | +0.0% |
| 2003 | 98.3% | +0.0% |
| 2004 | 98.3% | +0.0% |
| 2005 | 98.4% | +0.0% |
| 2006 | 98.2% | -0.1% |
| 2007 | 97.8% | -0.5% |
| 2008 | 97.3% | -0.5% |
| 2009 | 96.9% | -0.5% |
| 2010 | 96.4% | -0.5% |
| 2011 | 96.0% | -0.5% |
| 2012 | 95.5% | -0.5% |
| 2013 | 95.1% | -0.5% |
| 2014 | 94.6% | -0.5% |
| 2015 | 94.2% | -0.5% |
| 2016 | 93.7% | -0.5% |
| 2017 | 93.3% | -0.5% |
| 2018 | 92.8% | -0.5% |
| 2019 | 92.4% | -0.5% |
| 2020 | 91.9% | -0.5% |
| 2021 | 91.5% | -0.5% |
| 2022 | 91.0% | -0.5% |
| 2023 | 90.5% | -0.5% |
| 2024 | 90.1% | -0.5% |
Jamaica compared with similar countries
- Jamaica's 90.1% is below the median for upper middle income countries, which is 98.2%, 92% of the median. (55 countries reporting)
- Jamaica's 90.1% is below the median for Latin America & Caribbean, which is 98.7%, 91% of the median. (31 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 98.0% | 96.9% | 98.4% | 10 |
| 2010s | 94.4% | 92.4% | 96.4% | 10 |
| 2020s | 91.0% | 90.1% | 91.9% | 5 |
Countries ranked near Jamaica
More environment data for Jamaica
- Historical exposure to drought — Land soil moisture anomaly -2.93 Percentage change (2025)
- Historical exposure to drought — Cropland soil moisture anomaly -3.15 Percentage change (2025)
- Standard Deviation, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Standard Deviation 0.284 °C (2025)
- Temperature change 1.76 °C (2025)
- Methane (CH4) emissions (total) excluding LULUCF (Mt CO2e), annual 0.0837 % change on previous year (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions (total) excluding LULUCF (Mt CO2e), per unit 0 Mt CO2e per US$ of GDP (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions (total) excluding LULUCF (Mt CO2e), per capita 0 Mt CO2e per person (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Power Industry (Energy) (Mt CO2e) 8.11 % change on previous year (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Power Industry (Energy) (Mt CO2e), per 0 Mt CO2e per US$ of GDP (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is using at least basic drinking water sources in urban vs. rural areas in Jamaica?
- Using at least basic drinking water sources in urban vs. rural areas in Jamaica was 90.1% 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 Jamaica?
- The highest recorded value was 98.4% in 2005.
- What is the lowest using at least basic drinking water sources in urban vs. rural areas recorded in Jamaica?
- The lowest recorded value was 90.1% in 2024.
- How does Jamaica rank for using at least basic drinking water sources in urban vs. rural areas?
- Jamaica ranks 153rd 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 Jamaica?
- Over the last ten years it is down 4.8%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Jamaica 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
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.