Clean Water and Sanitation
Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all.
People lacking safe drinking water
2.05 billion (est)
WHO/UNICEF estimate · 2025
People lacking safe sanitation
3.3 billion (est)
WHO/UNICEF estimate · 2025
Safe drinking water coverage
61% (est)
JMP estimate · 2025
Open defecation
340 million people (est)
JMP estimate · 2025
Global Progress Score
Based on Sustainable Development Report 2025
Historical Trend (2015–2025)
Regional Comparison (2025)
Goal 6: Clean Water and Sanitation — Score per Country (2025)
Each country is scored 0–100 based on its progress toward this goal. Drag to rotate. Hover or tap a country to see its score.
Key Targets
SDR 2025 scores SDG 6 at 62.7/100 globally — the 3rd most off-track of the 17 goals. The UN's 2025 SDG Progress Report notes that at current rates, universal safely managed water will not be achieved until 2046, and safely managed sanitation not until 2063 — three decades late. Freshwater withdrawal is 6× higher than in 1900 and growing. Climate change is making water distribution more extreme: droughts and floods are both intensifying. Gender dimensions are stark: women bear 72% of the global burden of water collection.
2063
the projected year for universal safely managed sanitation at current trends — 33 years beyond the 2030 SDG deadline, according to the UN SDG Progress Report 2025.
UN SDG Progress Report 2025; WHO/UNICEF JMP 2024 Update
Key Insights
The Basic Access Gap
703 million people still lack even basic drinking water, with 144 million relying on untreated surface water. Women and girls bear the heaviest burden — spending an estimated 200 million hours daily collecting water, time lost to education, income-earning, and rest.
The Sanitation Crisis
3.5 billion people lack safe sanitation; 419 million still practice open defecation. This has catastrophic public health consequences: contaminated water causes diarrheal diseases that kill 438,000 people annually — 325,000 of them children under 5.
Growing Water Scarcity
Agriculture consumes 72% of global freshwater. Water withdrawal has increased 6× over the last 100 years and continues growing. By 2030, global demand for freshwater will exceed supply by 40%. 700 million people could be displaced by severe water scarcity.
Climate Amplifies the Crisis
Climate change is the biggest threat multiplier for water security. More intense droughts and floods, accelerating glacier melt, and shifting rainfall patterns are disrupting the water cycle that 8 billion people depend on. Water-related disasters account for 70% of deaths from natural disasters.
Core Challenges
The $1 Trillion Investment Gap
Achieving SDG 6 requires $1 trillion/year globally. Current spending is approximately $500 billion — half the needed amount. The gap is largest in low-income countries where water infrastructure is most degraded and population growth is fastest.
Water Quality as Well as Quantity
2 billion people use water contaminated with feces; 1 billion use water contaminated with chemicals. Groundwater depletion and industrial pollution are making the problem worse. Safely managed water requires treating the full supply chain, not just providing access.
Transboundary Water Governance
286 river and lake basins cross international boundaries, covering 60% of global freshwater flows. Only 24 of these have formal cooperative agreements. Water geopolitics — already a driver of conflict — will intensify as scarcity grows.
2030 Outlook
Only 1.6 billion people are projected to have safely managed water by 2030 at current trends — a massive shortfall. Transformative investments in water infrastructure, nature-based solutions such as watershed restoration, and improved water governance are needed simultaneously. Water security is an existential issue for climate adaptation and human survival in the decades ahead.