Social indicators

Introduction | Statistics

 

Indicators on water supply and sanitation
Last update: December 2008
 
 
 
Notes
Notes
Country or area
Total
Urban
Rural
Total
Urban
Rural
Afghanistan
22
37
17
  
30
45
25
Albania
97
97
97
  
97
98
97
Algeria
85
87
81
  
94
98
87
Andorra
100
100
100
  
100
100
100
Angola
51
62
39
  
50
79
16
Anguilla
...
60
...
   a
...
99
...
Antigua and Barbuda
...
95
...
  
...
98
...
Argentina
96
98
80
  
91
92
83
Armenia
98
99
96
  
91
96
81
Aruba
100
100
100
  
...
...
...
Australia
100
100
100
  
100
100
100
Austria
100
100
100
  
100
100
100
Azerbaijan
78
95
59
  
80
90
70
Bahamas
...
98
...
  
100
100
100
Bahrain
...
100
...
  
...
100
...
Bangladesh
80
85
78
   b
36
48
32
Barbados
100
100
100
  
99
99
100
Belarus
100
100
99
  
93
91
97
Belgium
...
100
...
  
...
...
...
Belize
...
100
...
  
47
71
25
   a
Benin
65
78
57
  
30
59
11
Bhutan
81
98
79
  
52
71
50
Bolivia
86
96
69
  
43
54
22
Bosnia and Herzegovina
99
100
98
  
95
99
92
Botswana
96
100
90
  
47
60
30
Brazil
91
97
58
  
77
84
37
British Virgin Islands
98
98
98
  
100
100
100
Bulgaria
99
100
97
  
99
100
96
Burkina Faso
72
97
66
  
13
41
6
Burundi
71
84
70
  
41
44
41
Cambodia
65
80
61
  
28
62
19
Cameroon
70
88
47
  
51
58
42
Canada
100
100
99
  
100
100
99
Cape Verde
80
86
73
   a
41
61
19
   a
Central African Republic
66
90
51
  
31
40
25
Chad
48
71
40
  
9
23
4
Chile
95
98
72
  
94
97
74
China
88
98
81
  
65
74
59
Colombia
93
99
77
  
78
85
58
Comoros
85
91
81
  
35
49
26
Congo
71
95
35
  
20
19
21
Cook Islands
95
98
88
  
100
100
100
Costa Rica
98
99
96
  
96
96
95
Cote d'Ivoire
81
98
66
  
24
38
12
Croatia
99
100
98
  
99
99
98
Cuba
91
95
78
  
98
99
95
Cyprus
100
100
100
  
100
100
100
Czech Republic
100
100
100
  
99
100
98
Democratic People's Republic of Korea
100
100
100
  
59
58
60
   a
Democratic Republic of the Congo
46
82
29
  
31
42
25
Denmark
100
100
100
  
100
100
100
Djibouti
92
98
54
  
67
76
11
Dominica
...
100
...
  
83
86
75
   a
Dominican Republic
95
97
91
  
79
81
74
Ecuador
95
98
91
  
84
91
72
Egypt
98
99
98
  
66
85
52
El Salvador
84
94
68
  
86
90
80
Equatorial Guinea
43
45
42
  
51
60
46
Eritrea
60
74
57
  
5
14
3
Estonia
100
100
99
  
95
96
94
Ethiopia
42
96
31
  
11
27
8
Fiji
47
43
51
  
71
87
55
Finland
100
100
100
  
100
100
100
France
100
100
100
  
...
...
...
French Guiana
84
88
71
   a
78
85
57
   a
French Polynesia
100
100
100
  
98
99
97
Gabon
87
95
47
  
36
37
30
Gambia
86
91
81
  
52
50
55
Georgia
99
100
97
  
93
94
92
Germany
100
100
100
  
100
100
100
Ghana
80
90
71
  
10
15
6
Greece
100
100
99
  
98
99
97
Grenada
...
97
...
  
97
96
97
Guadeloupe
...
98
...
  
64
64
61
   a
Guam
100
100
100
  
99
99
98
Guatemala
96
99
94
  
84
90
79
Guinea
70
91
59
  
19
33
12
Guinea-Bissau
57
82
47
  
33
48
26
Guyana
93
98
91
  
81
85
80
Haiti
58
70
51
  
19
29
12
Honduras
84
95
74
  
66
78
55
Hungary
100
100
100
  
100
100
100
Iceland
100
100
100
  
100
100
100
India
89
96
86
  
28
52
18
Indonesia
80
89
71
  
52
67
37
Iran (Islamic Republic of)
...
99
...
  
83
86
78
   a
Iraq
77
88
56
  
76
80
69
Ireland
...
100
...
  
...
...
...
Israel
100
100
100
  
...
100
...
Italy
...
100
...
  
...
...
...
Jamaica
93
97
88
  
83
82
84
Japan
100
100
100
  
100
100
100
Jordan
98
99
91
  
85
88
71
Kazakhstan
96
99
91
  
97
97
98
Kenya
57
85
49
  
42
19
48
Kiribati
65
77
53
  
33
46
20
Kyrgyzstan
89
99
83
  
93
94
93
Lao People's Democratic Republic
60
86
53
  
48
87
38
Latvia
99
100
96
  
78
82
71
Lebanon
100
100
100
  
...
100
...
Lesotho
78
93
74
  
36
43
34
Liberia
64
72
52
  
32
49
7
Libyan Arab Jamahiriya
71
72
68
   a
97
97
96
Luxembourg
100
100
100
  
100
100
100
Madagascar
47
76
36
  
12
18
10
Malawi
76
96
72
  
60
51
62
Malaysia
99
100
96
  
94
95
93
Maldives
83
98
76
  
59
100
42
Mali
60
86
48
  
45
59
39
Malta
100
100
100
  
...
100
...
Marshall Islands
88
83
96
   a
81
93
57
   a
Mauritania
60
70
54
  
24
44
10
Mauritius
100
100
100
  
94
95
94
Mexico
95
98
85
  
81
91
48
Micronesia, Federated States of
94
95
94
  
25
61
14
Moldova
90
96
85
  
79
85
73
Monaco
...
100
...
  
...
100
...
Mongolia
72
90
48
  
50
64
31
Montenegro
98
100
96
  
91
96
86
Montserrat
100
100
100
  
96
96
96
Morocco
83
100
58
  
72
85
54
Mozambique
42
71
26
  
31
53
19
Myanmar
80
80
80
  
82
85
81
Namibia
93
99
90
  
35
66
18
Nepal
89
94
88
  
27
45
24
Netherlands
100
100
100
  
100
100
100
New Zealand
...
100
...
  
...
88
...
   c
Nicaragua
79
90
63
  
48
57
34
Niger
42
91
32
  
7
27
3
Nigeria
47
65
30
  
30
35
25
Niue
100
100
100
  
100
100
100
Northern Mariana Islands
98
98
97
  
94
94
96
Norway
100
100
100
  
...
...
...
Occupied Palestinian Territory
89
90
88
  
80
84
69
Oman
82
85
73
   a
...
97
...
Pakistan
90
95
87
  
58
90
40
Palau
89
79
94
  
67
96
52
Panama
92
96
81
  
74
78
63
Papua New Guinea
40
88
32
  
45
67
41
Paraguay
77
94
52
  
70
89
42
Peru
84
92
63
  
72
85
36
Philippines
93
96
88
  
78
81
72
Poland
...
100
...
  
...
...
...
Portugal
99
99
100
  
99
99
98
Qatar
100
100
100
  
100
100
100
Republic of Korea
...
97
...
  
...
...
...
Romania
88
99
76
  
72
88
54
Russian Federation
97
100
88
  
87
93
70
Rwanda
65
82
61
  
23
34
20
Saint Kitts and Nevis
99
99
99
  
96
96
96
Saint Lucia
98
98
98
  
89
89
89
   a
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
...
93
...
   a
...
...
96
Samoa
88
90
87
  
100
100
100
Sao Tome and Principe
86
88
83
  
24
29
18
Saudi Arabia
...
97
...
  
...
100
...
Senegal
77
93
65
  
28
54
9
Serbia
99
99
98
  
92
96
88
Seychelles
...
100
...
  
...
...
100
Sierra Leone
53
83
32
  
11
20
5
Singapore
...
100
...
  
...
100
...
Slovakia
100
100
100
  
100
100
99
Solomon Islands
70
94
65
  
32
98
18
Somalia
29
63
10
  
23
51
7
South Africa
93
100
82
  
59
66
49
Spain
100
100
100
  
100
100
100
Sri Lanka
82
98
79
  
86
89
86
Sudan
70
78
64
  
35
50
24
Suriname
92
97
79
  
82
89
60
Swaziland
60
87
51
  
50
64
46
Sweden
100
100
100
  
100
100
100
Switzerland
100
100
100
  
100
100
100
Syrian Arab Republic
89
95
83
  
92
96
88
Tajikistan
67
93
58
  
92
95
91
TFYR of Macedonia
100
100
99
  
89
92
81
Thailand
98
99
97
  
96
95
96
Timor-Leste
62
77
56
  
41
64
32
Togo
59
86
40
  
12
24
3
Tokelau
...
...
88
  
...
...
78
Tonga
100
100
100
  
96
98
96
Trinidad and Tobago
94
97
93
  
92
92
92
Tunisia
94
99
84
  
85
96
64
Turkey
97
98
95
  
88
96
72
Turks and Caicos Islands
100
100
100
  
...
98
...
Tuvalu
93
94
92
  
89
93
84
Uganda
64
90
60
  
33
29
34
Ukraine
97
97
97
  
93
97
83
United Arab Emirates
100
100
100
  
97
98
95
United Kingdom
100
100
100
  
...
...
...
United Republic of Tanzania
55
81
46
  
33
31
34
United States
99
100
94
  
100
100
99
Uruguay
100
100
100
  
100
100
99
Uzbekistan
88
98
82
  
96
97
95
Vanatu
59
86
52
   a
50
78
42
   a
Venezuela
90
  
93
72
   c
86
  
91
51
   c
Viet Nam
92
98
90
  
65
88
56
Wallis and Futuna Islands
...
...
100
  
...
...
80
   a
Yemen
66
68
65
  
46
88
30
Zambia
58
90
41
  
52
55
51
Zimbabwe
81
98
72
  
46
63
37

Sources:

United Nations, MDG Info 2008, CD-ROM v5.0.2.12 r1. Data also accessible at: http://mdgs.un.org/unsd/mdg/Default.aspx.

Footnotes:

...
 Not available.
a
 Data refer to 2000.
b
 The drinking water estimates for Bangladesh have been adjusted for arsenic contamination levels based on the national surveys conducted and approved by the Government of Bangladesh.
c
 Data refer to 1995.

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Technical notes:

Coverage estimates shown are derived from the Joint Monitoring Programme (JMP) database which draws upon more than 350 nationally representative household surveys and population and housing censuses. The surveys include UNICEF’s Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys, the Demographic and Health Surveys, the World Bank’s Living Standard Measurement Surveys and WHO’s World Health Surveys.

Coverage estimates from the JMP are expressed as the percentage of the population using improved drinking water sources and improved sanitation facilities. Not all people that have access to improved facilities or sources actually use them. Consequently, the JMP has adopted ‘use’ as the primary indicator for monitoring water and sanitation coverage.

In addition, the JMP classifies water supply sources and sanitation facilities as either ‘improved’ or ‘unimproved’. Improved drinking water technologies are those more likely to provide safe drinking water than those characterized as unimproved. Improved drinking water sources, according to the JMP, comprise: household connections, public standpipes, boreholes, protected dug wells, protected springs and rainwater collection. Unimproved drinking water sources include: unprotected wells, unprotected springs, rivers or ponds, vendor-provided water, bottled water and tanker truck water. Bottled water is not considered improved due to limitations in the potential quantity, not quality, of the water.

Improved sanitation facilities are those more likely to ensure privacy and hygienic use. According to the JMP, improved sanitation facilities comprise: connections to a public sewer, connections to a septic system, pour-flush latrines, simple pit latrines and ventilated improved pit latrines. Public or shared latrines, open pit latrines and bucket latrines are considered to be unimproved sanitation facilities.