25 Countries with the Least Access to Safe Drinking Water

Published on March 17, 2024 at 9:32 pm by Zarah Hamid in Business, Economy, Lists, News

In this article, we will be covering the 25 countries with the least access to safe drinking water. If you wish to skip our detailed analysis, you can move directly to the 5 Countries with the Least Access to Safe Drinking Water.

The Global Water Crisis

As reported by UNESCO, 2 billion people around the world do not have access to safe drinking water. This accounts for 26% of the world’s population. Simultaneously, almost 10% of the population worldwide resides in countries subject to high or critical water stress. You can also take a look at the world’s most water-stressed countries in 2040. The global water supply is also being increasingly dedicated to agriculture and industrial growth. The severity of the global water crisis is evident from the fact that the urban population witnessing water scarcity has been forecasted to double from 930 million in 2016 to 1.7 billion-2.4 billion people in 2050. Regions including Central Africa, East Asia, and parts of South America with water abundance are expected to witness seasonal water scarcity in the future. On the other extreme, the water-scarce Middle East and the Sahel region in Africa will be subject to even worse water shortage.

The Victims of Unsafe Drinking Water

According to a report by UNICEF, several countries recorded less than half of their populations using improved water sources accessible on premises in 2022. Sub-Saharan Africa hosted the majority of the countries with limited access to clean water. Nine out of ten people were deprived of accessing an improved water source in the Central African Republic, Chad, Haiti, and South Sudan. At the same time, more than half of the 703 million people without basic drinking water resided in sub-Saharan Africa while a fifth belonged to Central and Southern Asia. 115 million people around the world still utilize surface water. Out of these, two-thirds of them lived in sub-Saharan Africa.

Water access in countries is influenced by income status. This is because only two-thirds of improved water sources are accessible in lower-middle-income countries. The situation in low-income nations is adverse since less than a third of these sources can be accessed on-premises. The gap between coverage of improved sources and improved sources that could be accessed on premises is higher in Burundi, Liberia, Malawi, Rwanda, South Sudan, and Uganda.

Bottled Water as a Safe Drinking Option

Bottled water is deemed a safe and pure source of drinking water. Nestlé S.A. (OTC:NSRGY), PepsiCo, Inc. (NYSE:PEP), and The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) are some of the dominant players in the global bottled water market. Let’s take a look at their respective bottled water businesses. Previously, we have covered the highest-quality bottled water brands in the US.

One of the renowned companies offering premium natural mineral waters and high-quality purified water is Nestlé S.A. (OTC:NSRGY). The water brands from the company include Perrier, S.Pellegrino, Acqua Panna, and Nestlé Pure Life. Nestlé Pure Life is an especially popular brand that provides pure and safe water in more than 40 countries. Furthermore, Nestlé S.A. (OTC:NSRGY) engages in regenerating water cycles in its areas of operation to ensure retaining more water than it consumes for business.

Aquafina is a product of PepsiCo, Inc. (NYSE:PEP) and is available in . The bottled water goes through extensive purification encompassing reverse osmosis and other filtering and purification methods. PepsiCo, Inc. (NYSE:PEP) operates more than 40 Aquafina purification sites throughout the US and Canada. As reported by the 2023 sample water quality analysis for Aquafina, the bottled water undergoes 102,000 tests annually to maintain its taste and quality. Today, Aquafina is available in many regions across the globe including North America, Europe, and the Asia Pacific, and is one of the top bottled water brands in the world.

Dasani is a brand of purified water owned by The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO). Additionally, Topo Chico is a mineral water brand that was acquired by the company in 2017. On March 7, The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) reported that Topo Chico has updated its portfolio in the United States by launching its line of premium mixers. These mixers are made with filtered sparkling water and premium ingredients. This is an expansion to the Topo Chico Mineral Water which has been used as a mixer. Through Topo Chico Sabores’ line of premium sparkling waters made with real fruit juice and herbal extracts, the brand also made an effort to expand from the category of mineral water in 2023.

You can also view the healthiest bottled water brands in 2023. Without further ado, let’s move to the 25 countries with the least access to safe drinking water.

25 Countries with the Least Access to Safe Drinking Water

Our Methodology:

In order to compile a list of the 25 countries with the least access to safe drinking water, we sourced the proportion of the population who used safely managed water from a local source including piped water, boreholes or tube wells, protected dug wells, and protected springs. It is important to note that UNICEF declares drinking water safely managed when it is from a local source in the country which is accessible, available when required, and free from any contamination. Hence, this proportion represents the percentage of the total country’s population that had access to safe drinking water.

The metric was sourced from UNICEF and the most recent data is from 2022. The countries with least access to safe drinking water are ranked in descending order of our metric.

25 Countries with the Least Access to Safe Drinking Water

25. Mongolia

Percentage of Population with Access to Safe Drinking Water: 39.3%

Mongolia is a country situated in East Asia. In 2022, only 39.3% of Mongolia’s population was capable of accessing safe drinking water.

24. Sao Tome and Principe

Percentage of Population with Access to Safe Drinking Water: 36.3%

Sao Tome and Principe is an island country positioned in the Gulf of Guinea. The country ranks among the 25 countries with the least access to safe drinking water since 36.3% of its population has access to safely managed drinking water in 2022.

23. Indonesia

Percentage of Population with Access to Safe Drinking Water: 30.3%

Indonesia is a populous Muslim-majority country that also faces issues related to safe water access. In 2022, 30.3% of the Indonesians had access to safely managed drinking water.

22. Afghanistan

Percentage of Population with Access to Safe Drinking Water: 30.0%

Afghanistan is an Asian nation where 30% of the population could access safe drinking water in 2022. Therefore, access to safe drinking water is low in Afghanistan.

21. Tonga

Percentage of Population with Access to Safe Drinking Water: 29.5%

The 25 countries with the least access to safe drinking water rank Tonga as well. In 2022, access to safely managed drinking water sources among the population was recorded at 29.5%.

20. Cambodia

Percentage of Population with Access to Safe Drinking Water: 29.1%

Cambodia is situated in Southeast Asia. In 2022, only 29.1% of Cambodians were capable of using safely managed drinking services thereby depicting a lack of access.

19. Nigeria

Percentage of Population with Access to Safe Drinking Water: 29%

Nigeria is located in Western Africa and ranks as another country where people are deprived of accessing safe drinking water. In 2022, 29% of the locals had access to safe drinking water.

18. Lesotho

Percentage of Population with Access to Safe Drinking Water: 28.2%

The Southern Africa-based country of Lesotho also lacks access to safe drinking water. 28.2% of the residents of Lesotho could access safely managed drinking sources in 2022.

17. Senegal

Percentage of Population with Access to Safe Drinking Water: 26.7%

The westernmost nation in continental Africa, Senegal, ranks among the countries with the least safe drinking water access. In 2022, only 26.7% of the total population could use safely managed drinking water.

16. Zimbabwe

Percentage of Population with Access to Safe Drinking Water: 26.5%

Zimbabwe is another country located in Southern Africa where a relatively smaller proportion of the total population had an ability to access safe drinking water sources in 2022.

15. Guinea-Bissau

Percentage of Population with Access to Safe Drinking Water: 23.9%

Guinea-Bissau is a country in West Africa. Among the total national population, 23.9% had access to safely managed drinking water in 2022.

14. Madagascar

Percentage of Population with Access to Safe Drinking Water: 22.2%

Access to safe drinking water is low in the island country of Madagascar. In 2022, 22.2% of the people in the country were successful in accessing safe drinking water.

13. Togo

Percentage of Population with Access to Safe Drinking Water: 19.4%

Togo is a West African nation. The percentage of Togo’s population with access to safely managed drinking water was recorded at 19.4% in 2022.

12. Uganda

Percentage of Population with Access to Safe Drinking Water: 18.7%

Situated in East Africa, Uganda is another nation deprived of basic access to safe drinking water. In 2022, 18.7% of the country had access to safe water.

11. Lao People’s Democratic Republic

Percentage of Population with Access to Safe Drinking Water: 17.9%

Lao People’s Democratic Republic is located in Southeast Asia. With 17.9% of the population being able to use safe drinking water in 2022, the country ranks among the countries with the least access to safe drinking water.

10. Malawi

Percentage of Population with Access to Safe Drinking Water: 17.8%

Similar to other African nations lacking access to safe drinking water, Malawi also records low access. 17.8% of the total population could access safely managed drinking water in 2022.

9. Nepal

Percentage of Population with Access to Safe Drinking Water: 16.1%

Safe drinking water was accessible by 16.1% of the Nepalis in 2022. This depicts the country’s reduced access to safe drinking water.

8. Kiribati

Percentage of Population with Access to Safe Drinking Water: 14.4%

Kiribati is an island country in Oceania. As reported by UNICEF, people in Kiribati have limited access to safe drinking water.

7. Ethiopia

Percentage of Population with Access to Safe Drinking Water: 13.2%

Only 13.2% of the total population in Ethiopia could access safely managed drinking water in 2022. Hence, safe drinking water access is one of the lowest in the country.

6. Democratic Republic of the Congo

Percentage of Population with Access to Safe Drinking Water: 11.6%

Democratic Republic of the Congo is based in Central Africa where safe drinking water is unavailable to many. In 2022, only 11.6% could access safe drinking water in the country.

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