NAIROBI, Kenya – A quarter of the world’s population — about 2.1 billion people — still lack access to safe drinking water, according to a new joint report by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and UNICEF.
The study, Progress on Household Drinking Water and Sanitation 2000-2024: Special Focus on Inequalities, was released on Tuesday in Stockholm during World Water Week 2025.
It warns that despite progress since 2015, billions of people remain without basic water, sanitation, and hygiene services.
The findings show that in 2024 alone, 1.4 billion people had only basic water services, 287 million had limited services, 302 million relied on unimproved sources, while 106 million still drank directly from rivers, lakes, and other surface water.
Sanitation access is even more dire: 3.4 billion people worldwide live without safe sanitation, including 354 million who continue to practice open defecation.
Another 1.7 billion people lack hygiene at home, with 611 million of them missing even simple handwashing facilities.
“Water, sanitation, and hygiene are not privileges; they are basic human rights,” said Ruediger Krech, WHO’s Director of Health Promotion. “We must accelerate action, especially for the most marginalised communities, if we are to keep our promise to reach the Sustainable Development Goals.”
UNICEF’s water and sanitation director Cecilia Scharp noted that children and women pay the highest price: “When children lack safe water and sanitation, their health, learning and future are at risk. The impact is especially heavy on girls, who often carry the biggest burden.”
The report found that people in least developed countries are nearly twice as likely to lack sanitation as those in wealthier nations.
In conflict-affected countries, access to safe water is 38 percentage points lower than in stable nations.
Rural areas have seen some gains, with clean water coverage rising from 50 per cent in 2015 to 60 per cent in 2024, and hygiene access improving from 52 per cent to 71 per cent.
However, urban progress has stalled, raising concerns as global populations continue to shift toward cities.
The report also highlights gendered impacts, noting that women and girls are often forced to walk more than half an hour each day to collect water.
Poor sanitation also leads to school absenteeism among adolescent girls during menstruation.
Without urgent interventions, WHO and UNICEF warn, the world is on track to miss the UN’s 2030 goal of universal access to safe water and sanitation.
