Drinking Water

The Economist Daily Chart is always an excellent source of data, especially in terms of development economics.

The chart today shows that there has been an improvement in the number of the world’s population who have access to a satisfactory water supply. There does though still remain 884million people who do not have access to an ‘improved’ water supply, this is especially the case in sub-Saharan Africa. Lack of clean water still remains a significant barrier to economic development in many countries.

The glass is more than half full: according to the World Health Organisation, some 5.9 billion people, or 87% of the world’s population, enjoyed access to drinking water from an “improved” source in 2008. In other words, those people had water piped to a dwelling, or got it from a public tap or a protected well. Back in 1990 only 77% of the world’s population enjoyed such a luxury. Yet in some parts of the world, notably in Africa, great improvements in water supply are still needed. Some 884m people are still not using an improved water source, more than a third of them in sub-Saharan Africa. Eastern Asia has seen the greatest recent progress: 89% of the population in that region now have access to an improved water source, up from just 69% in 1990.