Countries by People using at least basic drinking water services (% of population)

Thirty-one countries, including Germany, Singapore, and Thailand, achieve 100% coverage for basic drinking water services, meaning every resident has access to an improved water source within a 30-minute round-trip collection time. At the other end of the ranking, the Democratic Republic of Congo scores just 35.68%, the lowest of all 214 countries measured. The 64-percentage-point gap between the top and bottom of this ranking reflects the scale of disparity in a metric directly tied to population health.

Population & Health category

Ranking 2024

Values shown in %.

Countries by People using at least basic drinking water services (% of population)
Rank	Country	%
1	American Samoa	100.00
1	Andorra	100.00
1	Belgium	100.00
1	Bermuda	100.00
1	Brunei	100.00
1	Curaçao	100.00
1	Faroe Islands	100.00
1	French Polynesia	100.00
1	Germany	100.00
1	Gibraltar	100.00
1	Greece	100.00
1	Greenland	100.00
1	Hong Kong	100.00
1	Hungary	100.00
1	Iceland	100.00
1	Isle of Man	100.00
1	South Korea	100.00
1	Kuwait	100.00
1	Liechtenstein	100.00
1	Luxembourg	100.00
1	Macao	100.00
1	Malta	100.00
1	Monaco	100.00
1	Netherlands	100.00
1	New Zealand	100.00
1	Northern Mariana Islands	100.00
1	Norway	100.00
1	Puerto Rico	100.00
1	Singapore	100.00
1	Thailand	100.00
1	United Arab Emirates	100.00
32	Denmark	100.00
33	Romania	100.00
34	Israel	100.00
35	United Kingdom	100.00
36	Brazil	100.00
37	France	100.00
38	Austria	100.00
39	Estonia	100.00
40	Switzerland	100.00
41	Finland	100.00
42	San Marino	100.00
43	Qatar	99.99
44	United States	99.98
45	Australia	99.97
46	Armenia	99.93
47	Mauritius	99.93
48	Spain	99.92
49	Saint Martin (French part)	99.92
50	Turkmenistan	99.92
51	Bahrain	99.92
52	Lithuania	99.92
53	Italy	99.92
54	Croatia	99.90
55	Belarus	99.89
56	British Virgin Islands	99.86
57	Costa Rica	99.82
58	Slovakia	99.79
59	Sweden	99.76
60	Maldives	99.76
61	Cyprus	99.72
62	Uruguay	99.63
63	Paraguay	99.60
64	Slovenia	99.57
65	Bhutan	99.55
66	Mexico	99.54
67	New Caledonia	99.54
68	Palau	99.53
69	Guam	99.53
70	U.S. Virgin Islands	99.47
71	Samoa	99.44
72	Sint Maarten (Dutch part)	99.31
73	Portugal	99.29
74	Jordan	99.29
75	Montenegro	99.28
76	Trinidad and Tobago	99.25
77	Bulgaria	99.19
78	Japan	99.18
79	Barbados	99.16
80	Chile	99.08
81	Argentina	99.04
82	Saudi Arabia	99.04
83	Bahamas	98.95
84	Antigua and Barbuda	98.92
85	Tonga	98.86
86	Turks and Caicos Islands	98.83
87	Bangladesh	98.78
88	Latvia	98.77
89	Palestine	98.77
90	Vietnam	98.76
91	Tuvalu	98.74
92	Czechia	98.73
93	Saint Kitts and Nevis	98.61
94	Iraq	98.41
95	Canada	98.29
96	North Macedonia	98.19
97	Saint Lucia	98.10
98	Suriname	98.00
99	Malaysia	97.94
100	Iran	97.85
101	Nauru	97.84
102	Kazakhstan	97.83
103	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	97.73
104	Seychelles	97.73
105	Azerbaijan	97.69
106	Dominican Republic	97.46
107	Egypt	97.30
108	Uzbekistan	97.29
109	Georgia	97.29
110	Ireland	97.10
111	Colombia	97.10
112	Dominica	97.00
113	Russia	96.90
114	Aruba	96.74
115	Tunisia	96.73
116	Libya	96.35
117	China	96.12
118	Bosnia and Herzegovina	96.09
119	Türkiye	95.99
120	Laos	95.86
121	Philippines	95.86
122	Honduras	95.73
123	India	95.72
124	Guyana	95.64
125	Peru	95.64
126	Grenada	95.63
127	Fiji	95.56
128	Cayman Islands	95.46
129	Serbia	95.40
130	Panama	95.26
131	Cuba	95.15
132	Albania	95.12
133	Kyrgyzstan	94.94
134	Belize	94.85
135	Syria	94.13
136	North Korea	93.91
137	Nepal	93.64
138	Ukraine	93.48
139	Bolivia	93.39
140	Venezuela	93.33
141	Guatemala	93.18
142	Moldova	92.71
143	Oman	92.67
144	Lebanon	92.60
145	Algeria	92.42
146	Cabo Verde	92.28
147	Morocco	92.21
148	Ecuador	92.07
149	Botswana	91.77
150	El Salvador	91.62
151	Pakistan	90.69
152	Sri Lanka	90.21
153	South Africa	90.19
154	Poland	90.12
155	Ghana	89.92
156	Micronesia	89.88
157	Tajikistan	89.19
158	Indonesia	89.01
159	Gabon	88.60
160	Senegal	88.04
161	Jamaica	87.56
162	Marshall Islands	87.44
163	Timor-Leste	87.33
164	Vanuatu	87.12
165	Gambia	87.10
166	Namibia	86.51
167	Mali	86.36
168	Mongolia	86.09
169	Myanmar	85.69
170	Comoros	85.05
171	Cambodia	82.85
172	Nigeria	82.25
173	Afghanistan	80.83
174	Eswatini	80.37
175	Djibouti	79.66
176	Kiribati	79.07
177	Liberia	78.83
178	Lesotho	78.08
179	Sao Tome and Principe	77.96
180	Mauritania	77.28
181	Côte d'Ivoire	77.25
182	Somalia	75.29
183	Yemen	75.04
184	Guinea	74.19
185	Republic of Congo	73.49
186	Zambia	73.41
187	Haiti	73.32
188	Malawi	73.05
189	Solomon Islands	71.61
190	Cameroon	71.41
191	Benin	69.59
192	Sierra Leone	68.08
193	Angola	67.96
194	Zimbabwe	67.21
195	Mozambique	66.63
196	Burundi	65.92
197	Kenya	65.60
198	Sudan	64.89
199	Togo	64.79
200	Equatorial Guinea	64.67
201	Tanzania	64.61
202	Uganda	63.01
203	Guinea-Bissau	61.81
204	Rwanda	61.39
205	Ethiopia	55.60
206	Madagascar	55.34
207	Niger	53.43
208	Papua New Guinea	53.30
209	Chad	52.21
210	Eritrea	51.85
211	Burkina Faso	50.00
212	South Sudan	39.75
213	Central African Republic	36.50
214	DR Congo	35.68

Analysis

This metric measures the percentage of people using at least basic drinking water services. According to the World Bank World Development Indicators (indicator code SH.H2O.BASW.ZS), basic drinking water services is defined as drinking water from an improved source, provided collection time is not more than 30 minutes for a round trip. Improved water sources include piped water, boreholes, or tube wells. The indicator encompasses both people using basic water services and those using safely managed water services, meaning it captures a floor rather than a ceiling of access quality. Data covers 214 countries, with 96.3% of entries sourced from within the last seven years and 100% rated as official data. The dataset spans a range of 35.68% to 100%, a spread of 180.3%, and 33 extreme outliers were identified using a 3-standard-deviation threshold.

Thirty-one countries share Rank 1 with a value of 100%, including high-income nations such as Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Luxembourg, and Singapore, alongside smaller territories like Gibraltar, Faroe Islands, and American Samoa. Rankings from 32 through 42 are occupied by countries whose values round to effectively 100% but carry fractional differences, such as Denmark at Rank 32 (99.9999997876119%) and Romania at Rank 33 (99.9999994247989%). Among larger economies, the United States places at Rank 44 with 99.98%, Australia at Rank 45 with 99.97%, and Brazil at Rank 36 with 99.9999987%. Thailand's Rank 1 placement at 100% is notable given its status as a middle-income country with a large population.

Several middle-income and developing countries appear in the lower portion of the ranking despite relatively recognized levels of economic activity. Poland places at Rank 154 with 90.12%, lower than neighbors such as Czechia (Rank 92, 98.73%) and Slovakia (Rank 58, 99.79%). India ranks 123rd at 95.72%, while Pakistan ranks 151st at 90.69%. Sub-Saharan African countries dominate the bottom of the table: South Sudan ranks 212th at 39.75%, Central African Republic ranks 213th at 36.50%, and the Democratic Republic of Congo is last at 35.68%. Burkina Faso (Rank 211, 49.99%) and Eritrea (Rank 210, 51.85%) also fall below the 55% threshold. Ethiopia at Rank 205 records 55.60% despite being one of Africa's most populous nations.

This indicator measures access to improved water sources within a 30-minute collection threshold, not water safety or quality at point of consumption. A household counted as having basic access may still receive water that is biologically or chemically contaminated. Countries with very high scores may mask significant urban-rural disparities, as national averages aggregate populations with very different access conditions. Data for some countries is modeled or extrapolated rather than directly surveyed, which can affect precision, particularly for small territories. The presence of 33 extreme outliers at the 3-standard-deviation level reflects how concentrated values are near 100% for many high-income countries, making differences among top-ranked nations analytically marginal. Rankings among countries with values above 99.9% reflect differences of fractions of a percentage point and should be interpreted with caution.

Methodology

Data is sourced from the World Bank World Development Indicators, indicator code SH.H2O.BASW.ZS, with a reference year of 2024. The metric is defined as the percentage of people using at least basic water services. Per the source note: 'Basic drinking water services is defined as drinking water from an improved source, provided collection time is not more than 30 minutes for a round trip. Improved water sources include piped water, boreholes or tube wells.' The indicator encompasses both people using basic water services and those using safely managed water services. Coverage includes 214 countries. Of these, 206 out of 214 (96.3%) have data from within the last seven years, and 202 out of 214 (94.4%) have data from the latest reference year. All datapoints (100%) are classified as official data. The dataset shows a value range of 35.68% to 100%, representing a 180.3% spread. Average year-over-year change is 0.5%, indicating low volatility. Thirty-three extreme outliers were identified using a 3-standard-deviation threshold, largely due to the concentration of values near 100% among high-income countries. No microstate exclusions were applied; all 214 countries are included regardless of population size.

Sources

World Bank