Two Billion People Have No Number For Safe Water

There are two ways to say how many people have clean water.

The kind way asks one thing. Is there a clean tap within a half-hour walk?

The strict way asks three more. Is the tap at your home? Does it work when you turn it on? Is the water clean?

The strict one is what the world promised to fix by 2030.

For 2.21 billion people, nobody has worked it out.

A Blank, Not A Low Score

209 countries give us the kind number. Only 147 give us the strict one.

So 62 countries have a blank. Not a bad score. A blank.

China is the biggest one. That is 1,409 million people. China says 96.12 per cent for the kind number. For the strict one there is nothing at all.

You might think this is about money. It is not.

16 of those 62 are rich countries. Australia is one of them. So is Saudi Arabia.

When Both Numbers Exist

Now look at the countries that do have both.

The two numbers are not close.

Nepal says 93.64 per cent for the kind one. It says 16.49 per cent for the strict one.

The middle country is 18.4 points apart. And 38 countries are more than 40 points apart.

My own country is one of them. The Philippines says 95.86 per cent. Then it says 48.48 per cent.

Both are true. They just answer different questions.

2030 Is Not Going To Happen

In 2000, 61.26 per cent of the world had the strict thing. By 2024 it was 73.74 per cent.

That is 0.52 points a year.

Keep that speed and we all get there in 2075.

The goal says 2030. So we are 45 years late.

Some Places Went Backwards

30 of 145 countries had a lower score in 2022 than in 2015. 2015 is the year the world set the goal.

The world total still went up. That is what an average does. It hides the parts.

Town And Village

In towns, 83.51 per cent of people have the strict thing. In villages and on farms, 55.87 per cent.

That is a gap of 27.64 points.

Colombia shows it best. Towns: 81.81 per cent. Villages: 38.74 per cent.

In 6 of 85 countries it goes the other way. So it is not a rule. But it is close to one.

One Thing Did Get Much Better

I do not want to leave you with only bad news.

In 2000, 21.05 per cent of the world had no toilet at all. They went outside.

By 2024 it was 4.34 per cent.

That is a huge drop. The bottom of the ladder moved a lot. The top of it barely moved.

I Read The Numbers Twice

All of this comes from one group. WHO and UNICEF count it together.

Two websites hand the numbers out. I read both.

Neither one has all of it. 970 readings sit only on the first. 4,003 sit only on the second.

Where both had a reading, I checked them against each other. That was 19,177 pairs. They matched every time.

Three Things I Cannot Tell You

A blank is not a zero. The 62 countries with no strict number are left out of every average here. So my world numbers describe the countries that report. Not the world.

These are worked out from surveys, not read off a meter. One country's line is smoother than real life is.

And a country number hides the homes inside it. 73.74 per cent for the world tells you nothing about who the rest are.