Which country has the highest People who Lack Access to Safe Drinking Water?

India has the highest People who Lack Access to Safe Drinking Water in 2025, at 78.4M, followed by China (62.8M) and Nigeria (60.1M).

Which country has the lowest People who Lack Access to Safe Drinking Water?

Cook Islands has the lowest People who Lack Access to Safe Drinking Water in 2025, at 17.

What is the median People who Lack Access to Safe Drinking Water across countries?

The median is 799.4K across the 149 countries with data in 2025.

Where does this safe drinking water by country data come from?

Rankodex compiles it from World Population Review and the primary sources it cites: People with no access to a safe drinking water source - Worldometar.

Country rankings

Safe Drinking Water by Country

Name: Safe Drinking Water by Country
Creator: Rankodex

India has the highest People who Lack Access to Safe Drinking Water in 2025 (78.4M), followed by China (62.8M) and Nigeria (60.1M). Cook Islands has the lowest (17).

Environment Health149 countries · 2 metricsUpdated Jul 4, 2025Original page

1 source

People with no access to a safe drinking water source - Worldometar

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Year 2025149 of 235 countries

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People who Lack Access to Safe Drinking Water, 2025

Darker green is better (higher is better). Click a place to highlight it.

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Ranking

Best first: the first 15 and last 5 of 149 countries.

Distribution Median and middle halfThe median is the middle value: half of places are above it, half below. The middle half is the range holding the central 50% of places.More in the glossary →

Each dot is one country; the lines mark the median and the middle half.

Median

799.4K

Middle half 43.1K – 3.3M

Average

4.5M

149 countries

Highest

78.4M

India

Lowest

Cook Islands

Data

Click a column to sort, a row to highlight that place on the charts.

149 countries · # = rank by People who Lack Access to Safe Drinking Water

#
1	India	78.4M	5.9%
2	China	62.8M	4.5%
3	Nigeria	60.1M	31.5%
4	Ethiopia	44.4M	42.7%
5	DR Congo	38.6M	47.6%
6	Indonesia	33M	12.6%
7	Tanzania	23.1M	44.4%
8	Bangladesh	20.9M	13.1%
9	Pakistan	18.7M	8.6%
10	Sudan	17.8M	44.5%
11	Kenya	17.3M	36.8%
12	Afghanistan	15.1M	44.7%
13	Angola	14.4M	51.0%
14	Mozambique	13M	48.9%
15	Madagascar	12.3M	48.5%
16	Myanmar	9.9M	19.4%
17	Philippines	8.6M	8.2%
18	Niger	8.3M	41.8%
19	Uganda	7.9M	21.0%
20	Chad	7.2M	49.2%
21	Algeria	6.6M	16.4%
22	Zambia	5.7M	34.6%
23	Cameroon	5.6M	24.4%
24	Papua New Guinea	5.2M	60.0%
25	Morocco	5.1M	14.6%
26	Iraq	5M	13.4%
27	Mexico	4.7M	3.9%
28	South Sudan	4.6M	41.3%
29	Ivory Coast	4.6M	18.1%
30	Russia	4.5M	3.1%
31	Haiti	4.5M	42.3%
32	Mali	4.3M	23.0%
33	Peru	4.1M	13.3%
34	Colombia	4M	8.6%
35	South Africa	3.9M	6.8%
36	Brazil	3.8M	1.9%
37	Cambodia	3.8M	24.5%
38	Zimbabwe	3.3M	23.1%
39	Burkina Faso	3.3M	17.7%
40	Ghana	3.2M	11.3%
41	Iran	3.1M	3.8%
42	Senegal	3.1M	21.5%
43	Togo	2.8M	36.9%
44	Rwanda	2.8M	23.9%
45	Guinea	2.7M	23.2%
46	Burundi	2.7M	24.1%
47	Sierra Leone	2.6M	37.4%
48	United States	2.6M	0.8%
49	Benin	2.5M	22.1%
50	Nepal	2.3M	8.4%
51	Tajikistan	2.3M	26.2%
52	Vietnam	2.2M	2.4%
53	Ecuador	2.1M	13.1%
54	Venezuela	2.1M	6.9%
55	Syria	1.9M	9.9%
56	Palestine	1.9M	41.6%
57	Ukraine	1.7M	3.8%
58	Malawi	1.7M	9.8%
59	Mauritania	1.7M	42.1%
60	Laos	1.7M	24.3%
61	Dominican Republic	1.6M	15.3%
62	Thailand	1.6M	2.2%
63	Central African Republic	1.5M	31.5%
64	Eritrea	1.3M	42.2%
65	Kazakhstan	1.3M	7.1%
66	Azerbaijan	1.3M	13.0%
67	Republic of the Congo	1.2M	23.5%
68	Guatemala	1.1M	7.2%
69	Liberia	1.1M	24.4%
70	Bolivia	1.1M	10.0%
71	Mongolia	1.1M	35.6%
72	Sri Lanka	956.1K	4.4%
73	Saudi Arabia	899.2K	3%
74	Honduras	812.9K	8.8%
75	Nicaragua	799.4K	13.0%
76	Equatorial Guinea	757.5K	52.1%
77	Poland	650.5K	1.7%
78	Kyrgyzstan	600.2K	10.0%
79	Egypt	597.6K	0.6%
80	Cuba	575K	5.1%
81	Malaysia	562.2K	1.8%
82	Argentina	391.3K	0.9%
83	El Salvador	383.4K	6.2%
84	Lesotho	383.3K	18.2%
85	Moldova	381.3K	11.6%
86	Guinea-Bissau	370K	20.7%
87	Timor-Leste	338.6K	28.1%
88	Eswatini	296K	25.9%
89	Jordan	295.9K	3.1%
90	Oman	276.2K	6.6%
91	Tunisia	262.3K	2.3%
92	Gambia	218K	9.8%
93	Namibia	213.7K	9%
94	Panama	209.9K	5.3%
95	Chile	180.5K	1%
96	Jamaica	173.8K	6.2%
97	Albania	142K	4.9%
98	Gabon	138.8K	6.8%
99	Paraguay	123.2K	2%
100	Solomon Islands	122.8K	19.2%
101	Costa Rica	106K	2.2%
102	Djibouti	102K	10.0%
103	Lithuania	98.8K	3.4%
104	Ireland	98.8K	2.1%
105	Botswana	83.7K	3.8%
106	North Korea	76.7K	0.3%
107	Comoros	71.9K	9.9%
108	Canada	71.9K	0.2%
109	Trinidad and Tobago	70K	4.9%
110	Lebanon	64.7K	1%
111	Serbia	57.4K	0.8%
112	Bulgaria	43.1K	0.6%
113	Cape Verde	42.5K	8.3%
114	Fiji	39.5K	4.3%
115	Kiribati	38.7K	33.1%
116	Kuwait	38.3K	1%
117	United Arab Emirates	34.7K	0.4%
118	Suriname	30.2K	5.2%
119	Belarus	28.5K	0.3%
120	Croatia	16.7K	0.4%
121	Vanuatu	14.6K	5.5%
122	Latvia	13.8K	0.7%
123	Guyana	12.9K	1.7%
124	Micronesia	12K	11.0%
125	North Macedonia	11.9K	0.6%
126	Slovenia	10.3K	0.5%
127	Uruguay	10.1K	0.3%
128	Saint Lucia	6,471	3.7%
129	Bahamas	6,166	1.6%
130	Maldives	5,994	1.4%
131	Sao Tome and Principe	5,808	2.9%
132	Estonia	5,258	0.4%
133	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	5,241	4.9%
134	Seychelles	4,611	4.3%
135	Grenada	3,899	3.4%
136	Bosnia and Herzegovina	3,519	0.1%
137	Marshall Islands	2,635	5.4%
138	Samoa	2,018	1%
139	Montenegro	1,884	0.3%
140	Antigua and Barbuda	1,878	2.1%
141	Belize	1,782	0.5%
142	Mauritius	1,292	0.1%
143	Barbados	837	0.3%
144	Saint Kitts and Nevis	800	1.7%
145	Tonga	424	0.4%
146	Nauru	383	3.5%
147	Tuvalu	252	2.3%
148	Niue	27	1.5%
149	Cook Islands	17	0.1%

What correlates with People who Lack Access to Safe Drinking Water (2025)?

Pearson r against 1,382 other country metrics sharing at least 90 countries. Correlation is not causation.

Higher together

Places that have a higher People who Lack Access to Safe Drinking Water tend to score higher on these

Goat PopulationGoat Population by Country
r = +0.87 · very strong · n = 139
Plot
ChildrenChildren in the World by Country
r = +0.86 · very strong · n = 141
Plot
Avg Annual Live Births w/ DefectsBirth Defect Rates by Country
r = +0.84 · very strong · n = 147
Plot
Total PEM/Starvation DeathsStarvation Deaths by Country
r = +0.84 · very strong · n = 145
Plot
2050Past and Projected Future Population by Country
r = +0.84 · very strong · n = 148
Plot
Undernourished IndividualsHunger Rates by Country
r = +0.83 · very strong · n = 99
Plot

Opposite directions

Places that have a higher People who Lack Access to Safe Drinking Water tend to score lower on these

Average Men's Shoe Size (US sizes)Shoe Size by Country
r = −0.43 · moderate · n = 116
Plot
Environmental HealthGreenest (Most Eco-Friendly) Countries
r = −0.39 · moderate · n = 139
Plot
Mean BMIEuropean Obesity Rates by Country
r = −0.39 · moderate · n = 146
Plot
Political Stability ScorePolitical Stability by Country
r = −0.39 · moderate · n = 149
Plot
WJP RoLI Fundamental Rights ScoreWorld Justice Project (WJP) Rule of Law Index
r = −0.37 · moderate · n = 110
Plot
Mean BMI MaleEuropean Obesity Rates by Country
r = −0.37 · moderate · n = 146
Plot

Quick answers

Which country has the highest People who Lack Access to Safe Drinking Water?: India has the highest People who Lack Access to Safe Drinking Water in 2025, at 78.4M, followed by China (62.8M) and Nigeria (60.1M).
Which country has the lowest People who Lack Access to Safe Drinking Water?: Cook Islands has the lowest People who Lack Access to Safe Drinking Water in 2025, at 17.
What is the median People who Lack Access to Safe Drinking Water across countries?: The median is 799.4K across the 149 countries with data in 2025.
Where does this safe drinking water by country data come from?: Rankodex compiles it from World Population Review and the primary sources it cites: People with no access to a safe drinking water source - Worldometar.

Higher together

Opposite directions

Quick answers

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