AGUACYCLE
Sub-Saharan Africa

Burkina Faso

Capital: Ouagadougou · Low income · Pop. 23.5 million

Safely managed drinking water
24.72%
Safely managed sanitation
555
m³ freshwater / person / yr
7%
Water stress · Low

Source: World Bank Open Data (WHO/UNICEF JMP & FAO AQUASTAT)

Sanitation tracks closely: 24.72% use safely managed sanitation services and 31.8% have at least a basic service (2024).

Burkina Faso has about 555 cubic meters of renewable internal freshwater per person each year — below the ~1,000 m³ threshold widely used to define water scarcity. It withdraws the equivalent of 7% of those internal resources annually (low water stress).

Agriculture accounts for about 51% of Burkina Faso's water withdrawals, the rest going to households and industry.

Common questions

How many people in Burkina Faso have safe drinking water?

Comprehensive safely-managed drinking-water data is not available for Burkina Faso; basic-service estimates may exist.

Does Burkina Faso have enough freshwater?

Burkina Faso has roughly 555 m³ of renewable internal freshwater per person per year, and uses about 7% of it annually (low stress).

Elsewhere in Sub-Saharan Africa