Less than half the population in all the Sub-Saharan African countries included had access to safely managed drinking water in 2022. The share was lowest in the Central African Republic and Chad, where only six percent of the population had access to clean drinking water. Worldwide, Sub-Saharan Africa was the region with the lowest share of access to clean drinking water.

Around three in every ten people living in Sub-Saharan Africa had improved drinking water accessible on premises in 2020. The coverage of water available when needed was higher, at nearly 60 percent. However, when considering the quality of water, only 36 percent of Sub-Saharan Africa's population had access to drinking water free from contamination.

Water Observations from Space (WOfS) is a service that draws on satellite imagery to provide historical surface water observations of the whole African continent. WOfS allows users to understand the location and movement of inland and coastal water present in the African landscape. It shows where water is usually present; where it is seldom observed; and where inundation of the surface has been observed by satellite. WOfS annual summary shows the frequency of a pixel being classified as wet over an annual period (calendar year). This is calculated by looking at:Total number of clear observations for each pixel: the number of observations that were clear (no cloud, cloud shadow or terrain shadow) for the selected time period. The classification algorithm then assigns these as either wet, or dry.Total number of wet observation for each pixel: the number of observations that were clear and wet for the selected time period.Key PropertiesGeographic Coverage: Continental Africa - approximately 37° North to 35° SouthTemporal Coverage: 1984 - 2022Spatial Resolution: 30 x 30 meterUpdate frequency: Annual from 1984 - 2022Number of Bands: 3 BandsParent Dataset: Landsat Collection 2 Level-2 Surface Reflectance; WOfS Feature LayerSource Data Coordinate System: WGS 84 / NSIDC EASE-Grid 2.0 Global (EPSG:6933)Service Coordinate System: WGS 84 / NSIDC EASE-Grid 2.0 Global (EPSG:6933)

Available BandsBand IDDescriptionValue rangeData typeNo data valuecount_wetHow many times a pixel was wet0 - 32767int16-999count_clearHow many times a pixel was clear0 - 32767int16-999frequencyFrequency of water detection at a location0 - 1float32NaN

Interpreting WOfSThe WOfS service should be interpreted with caveats in the following situations:Mixed pixels: Discretion should be used where a single pixel covers both water and land. These areas tend to occur on the edges of lakes, and in wetlands where there is a mix of water and vegetation.Turbid or dark water: The WOfS algorithm is developed to identify a diverse range of waterbodies. However, the classifier may miss dark water surfaces or water with high concentration of sediments. In some cases, the impact can be mitigated by using a temporal summary of WOfS, such as the Annual Summary or All-Time Summary. A waterbody may be missed in a single observation, but over the course of the year it is mapped as water in other dates and therefore mapped as a waterbody in the summary products.Other environmental factors: Sediment, floating vegetation and similar obstructions change the colour of water and can obfuscate water detection by WOfS.Inaccurate input data: Inaccurate input surface reflectance may lead to false classification in WOfS. To maximize coverage, all pixels within a valid surface reflectance range (0-1) from Landsat Collection 2 are used to generate the WOFLs. When creating WOfS summaries, only WOFLs processed from Landsat Tier 1 data with good geometric accuracy are used.Note that WOfS is not intended for studying ocean. Validation has been centred around inland and near-coastal waterbodies.

More details on this dataset can be found here.

In 2022, an estimated 91 percent of the world population had access to at least basic drinking water services. Access was highest in Europe and North America and Australia and New Zealand, with approximately 100 percent of both regions having access to at least basic drinking water services.

Access to safe drinking water

Improved drinking water refers to a source that can be adequately protected from outside contamination, mostly by fecal matter. An improved sanitation facility keeps human waste out of reach, for example, by using a flush toilet or a septic tank. These protected sources include rainwater, protected springs, and piped water into a dwelling. Global investments in water supply infrastructure are expected to increase.

Global water inequality

In most regions of the world, 90 percent of the population has access to at least basic drinking water services. However, just 65 percent of the population in sub-Saharan Africa and 60 percent of the population in Oceania had basic access in 2022. In sub-Saharan Africa, about 16 percent of people had access to unimproved water sources and eight percent only had access to surface waters. Unimproved water sources include bottled water and tanker-trucks. Currently, eight out of ten people living in rural areas still lack even basic drinking water services. A lack of access to safe water is considered one of the top risks based on impact to global societies.

In 2022, the population in South Africa and Botswana had the highest share of access to safely managed basic drinking water within Southern Africa, with 94 percent and 93 percent, respectively. The share was lowest in Zimbabwe, where 62 percent of the population had access to clean drinking water.

This map shows the percentage of urban population using an improved drinking water source in 2008. Since 1990, 134 million people in urban areas have gained access to an improved drinking water source, but the increase in coverage is barely keeping pace with population growth.Source: WHO/UNICEF, 2010

South Africa ZA: People Using At Least Basic Drinking Water Services: Urban: % of Urban Population data was reported at 96.686 % in 2015. This records an increase from the previous number of 96.657 % for 2014. South Africa ZA: People Using At Least Basic Drinking Water Services: Urban: % of Urban Population data is updated yearly, averaging 96.466 % from Dec 2000 (Median) to 2015, with 16 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 96.686 % in 2015 and a record low of 96.246 % in 2000. South Africa ZA: People Using At Least Basic Drinking Water Services: Urban: % of Urban Population data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s South Africa – Table ZA.World Bank.WDI: Health Statistics. The percentage of people using at least basic water services. This indicator encompasses both people using basic water services as well as those using safely managed water services. 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 tubewells, protected dug wells, protected springs, and packaged or delivered water.; ; WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme (JMP) for Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene (washdata.org).; Weighted average;

Graph and download economic data for Consumer Price Index: Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas and Other Fuels (COICOP 04): Water Supply and Miscellaneous Services Relating to the Dwelling: Total for South Africa (ZAFCP040400GPQ) from Q2 2008 to Q3 2023 about water, miscellaneous, South Africa, fuels, supplies, electricity, gas, services, CPI, price index, indexes, and price.

Purpose: The purpose of this dataset is to provide a high resolution map of available water content for Burkina Faso derived from 30m soil properties maps using the iSDA Africa dataset and the USDA Rosetta3 model. The map can be used to notably support spatialized crop simulation models to determine potential crop yields across West Africa. Nature and extent of data: The dataset consists of a high resolution map of plant available water content derived from four soil property datasets from iSDA Africa. The soil properties include sand, clay, silt and fine-earth bulk density, and were predicted at a 30m resolution for 0-20 cm and 20-50cm depth intervals. The USDA Rosetta model was used to compute soil water retention properties from four iSDA layers (sand, clay, silt content, and fine-earth bulk density), including the van Genuchten parameters of residual water content, saturated water content, 'alpha' shape parameter, 'n' shape parameter, and saturated hydraulic conductivity. From these parameters, the volumetric water content at field capacity and permanent wilting point was computed using the van Genuchten-Mualem model. The output map has been filled with nearest neighbor interpolation where NaN values were present. Finally, available water content integrated over the soil profile down to 50cm and to the bedrock depth was calculated. Location and coverage: The dataset covers the country of Burkina Faso in West Africa at a 30m resolution. Temporal scope: The dataset was created using soil property data and models from iSDA Africa and USDA Rosetta3, respectively, and covers the temporal scope of the original datasets. Archive formats / unzipping: Some of the archive files are separated in multiple parts, as indicated by their numeral file extensions (i.e. *.001, *.002, etc). To unzip these files, please consider using an unzipping software such as 7zip, that will manage file concatenation and unzipping given that all parts are stored under the same folder in your file system.

This survey shows the share of Africans with access to enough clean drinking water in 2010 for selected countries. Only 46 percent of the people in Chad have access to enough drinking water.

clean water access for 2022 was 78.48%, a 0.06% decline from 2021.

<ul style='margin-top:20px;'>

<li> clean water access for 2021 was <strong>78.54%</strong>, a <strong>0.04% decline</strong> from 2020.</li>
<li> clean water access for 2020 was <strong>78.58%</strong>, a <strong>0.08% increase</strong> from 2019.</li>
<li> clean water access for 2019 was <strong>78.50%</strong>, a <strong>0.13% increase</strong> from 2018.</li>
</ul>The percentage of people using drinking water from an improved source that is accessible on premises, available when needed and free from faecal and priority chemical contamination. Improved water sources include piped water, boreholes or tubewells, protected dug wells, protected springs, and packaged or delivered water.

The rivers of Africa dataset is derived from the World Wildlife Fund's (WWF) HydroSHEDS drainage direction layer and a stream network layer. The source of the drainage direction layer was the 15-second Digital Elevation Model (DEM) from NASA's Shuttle Radar Topographic Mission (SRTM). The raster stream network was determined by using the HydroSHEDS flow accumulation grid, with a threshold of about 1000 km² upstream area.

The stream network dataset consists of the following information: the origin node of each arc in the network (FROM_NODE), the destination of each arc in the network (TO_NODE), the Strahler stream order of each arc in the network (STRAHLER), numerical code and name of the major basin that the arc falls within (MAJ_BAS and MAJ_NAME); - area of the major basin in square km that the arc falls within (MAJ_AREA); - numerical code and name of the sub-basin that the arc falls within (SUB_BAS and SUB_NAME); - area of the sub-basin in square km that the arc falls within (SUB_AREA); - numerical code of the sub-basin towards which the sub-basin flows that the arc falls within (TO_SUBBAS) (the codes -888 and -999 have been assigned respectively to internal sub-basins and to sub-basins draining into the sea). The attributes table now includes a field named "Regime" with tentative classification of perennial ("P") and intermittent ("I") streams.

Supplemental Information:

This dataset is developed as part of a GIS-based information system on water resources for the African continent. It has been published in the framework of the AQUASTAT - programme of the Land and Water Division of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.

Contact points:

Data lineage:

The linework of the map was obtained by converting the stream network to a feature dataset with the Hydrology toolset in ESRI ArcGIS.The Flow Direction and Stream Order grids were derived from hydrologically corrected elevation data with a resolution of 15 arc-seconds.The elevation dataset was part of a mapping product, HydroSHEDS, developed by the Conservation Science Program of World Wildlife Fund.Original input data had been obtained during NASA's Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM).

Online resources:

Hydrological basins in Africa

Financial overview and grant giving statistics of Water Wells for Africa

In 2022, the population in the Seychelles had the highest share of access to safely managed basic drinking water within East Africa, with 90 percent. The share was lowest in South Sudan, where only 41 percent of the population had access to clean drinking water.

In the Central African Republic and Chad, only six percent of the population has access to safely managed drinking water, making them the countries in the world where the lowest share of the population has access to clean drinking water. A high number of the countries on the list are located in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Raster surface water image highlighting the percentage of time in 2021 that there was water at a certain pixel in East Africa.

Script which classifies individual countries: https://code.earthengine.google.com/3f508773522979dfa62a75bda7750b5f?noload=true

Script which combines the individual maps and filters the end-result: https://code.earthengine.google.com/ed8ee1bbade0b51f3759565b30da37ab?noload=true

Statistics illustrates consumption, production, prices, and trade of Mineral or Aerated Waters in Africa from 2007 to 2024.

A framework integrating the Budyko model has been developed to distinguish between rainfed and irrigated cropland areas across Africa. This expands on remote sensing land cover products available for agricultural water studies in Africa and thereby helps address the need for deeper insights into cropland patterns. Validation against an independent dataset revealed an overall accuracy of 73% with high precision and specificity scores. These results validate the framework’s effectiveness in identifying irrigated areas while minimizing errors in misclassifying rainfed areas as irrigated.

South Africa Imports of salt, pure sodium chloride, sea water from Suriname was US$1.01 Thousand during 2024, according to the United Nations COMTRADE database on international trade. South Africa Imports of salt, pure sodium chloride, sea water from Suriname - data, historical chart and statistics - was last updated on May of 2025.

Graph and download economic data for Consumer Price Index: Housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels (COICOP 04): Water supply and miscellaneous services relating to the dwelling: Total for South Africa (ZAFCP040400IXNBQ) from Q1 2008 to Q4 2021 about water, miscellaneous, South Africa, fuels, supplies, electricity, gas, services, CPI, price index, indexes, and price.