South Africa
Capital: Pretoria · Upper middle income · Pop. 64.0 million
Source: World Bank Open Data (WHO/UNICEF JMP & FAO AQUASTAT) · drinking water 2024
In South Africa, 68.01% 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 20.5 million people without safely managed drinking water at home.
Sanitation tracks closely: 73.78% use safely managed sanitation services and 77.38% have at least a basic service (2024).
South Africa has about 718 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 47% of those internal resources annually (medium water stress).
Agriculture accounts for about 59% of South Africa's water withdrawals, the rest going to households and industry.
Common questions
How many people in South Africa have safe drinking water?
68.01% of South Africa's population uses safely managed drinking water (2024), per WHO/UNICEF data; about 20.5 million people do not.
Does South Africa have enough freshwater?
South Africa has roughly 718 m³ of renewable internal freshwater per person per year, and uses about 47% of it annually (medium stress).