Iraq
Capital: Baghdad · Upper middle income · Pop. 46.0 million
Source: World Bank Open Data (WHO/UNICEF JMP & FAO AQUASTAT) · drinking water 2024
In Iraq, 59.83% of the population uses safely managed drinking water — an improved source, located on premises, available when needed, and free from contamination (2024 estimate). That leaves roughly 18.5 million people without safely managed drinking water at home.
Sanitation tracks closely: 50.9% use safely managed sanitation services and 98.5% have at least a basic service (2024).
Iraq has about 799 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 121% of those internal resources annually (extreme (over-extraction) water stress), meaning it relies on rivers from outside its borders, desalination, or drawing down stored reserves.
Agriculture accounts for about 73% of Iraq's water withdrawals, the rest going to households and industry.
Common questions
How many people in Iraq have safe drinking water?
59.83% of Iraq's population uses safely managed drinking water (2024), per WHO/UNICEF data; about 18.5 million people do not.
Does Iraq have enough freshwater?
Iraq has roughly 799 m³ of renewable internal freshwater per person per year, and uses about 121% of it annually (extreme (over-extraction) stress).