In 2024, 2.1 billion people did not have access to a drinking-water service that was “safely managed”, according to the report published in 2025 by the WHO and UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme (JMP). This figure does not refer only to people drawing water from a river. It brings together several situations that the indicator carefully distinguishes.
Three conditions to be met
To qualify for the highest level on the JMP scale, a service must use an improved source, be accessible on the premises, be available whenever the household needs it, and be free from faecal contamination as well as priority chemical contamination.
An improved source is one that, by design, has the potential to provide safe water. The term therefore describes a feature of the installation; on its own, it does not guarantee that all the service criteria are met.
The “basic” level covers an improved source for which collection takes no more than 30 minutes for a round trip, including waiting time, but which does not meet all the criteria for the higher level. Beyond 30 minutes, the service is classified as “limited”. Unimproved sources and the direct collection of surface water constitute further situations.
Progress does not close the gap
Between 2015 and 2024, the global share of the population using a safely managed service rose from 68% to 74%. The report estimates that 961 million people gained access. In rural areas, coverage increased from 50% to 60%; in urban areas, it remained at 83%.
Among the 2.1 billion people without access to the highest level, the report counts 106 million people using surface water directly, among others. Reading the total as though everyone in it were in this last situation would obscure part of the problem: availability, distance and quality are not interchangeable.
A report with a cut-off date
The report covers households and goes up to 2024. It describes neither the current situation at a particular tap nor the volumes of freshwater held in natural reserves: its subject is the level of service available to populations.
Sources
- UNICEF, JMP 2025 report: household access to water, 2000–2024 data.
- JMP: definition of drinking-water service levels.
- Photograph: DFID/Vicki Francis, water collection in Pakistan, 2010 archive.
- Photograph licence: CC BY 2.0.
Sources consulted on 20 October 2026.
