EarthTrends (http://earthtrends.wri.org) Searchable Database Results
Provided by the World Resources Institute (http://www.wri.org)
"Water Resources and Freshwater Ecosystems -- Water and Sanitation: Access to an improved water source"

"Units: Percent (%)"

,,2004,1990,
World
"World","",83,78,

,,2004,1990,
Region/Classification
"Asia (excluding Middle East)","",82,73,
"Central America & Caribbean","",93,80,
"Middle East & North Africa","",87,84,
"North America","",100,100,
"Oceania","",85,89,
"South America","",90,84,
"Sub-Saharan Africa","",56,49,
"Developed Countries","",97,98,
"Developing Countries","",79,71,
"High Income Countries","",100,..,
"Low Income Countries","",75,64,
"Middle Income Countries","",84,78,

,,2004,1990,
Country
"Afghanistan","AFG",39,4,
"Albania","ALB",96,96,
"Algeria","DZA",85,94,
"Andorra","AND",100,100,
"Angola","AGO",53,36,
"Antigua and Barbuda","ATG",91,..,
"Argentina","ARG",96,94,
"Armenia","ARM",92,..,
"Aruba","ABW",100,100,
"Australia","AUS",100,100,
"Austria","AUT",100,100,
"Azerbaijan","AZE",77,68,
"Bahamas","BHS",97,..,
"Bangladesh","BGD",74,72,
"Barbados","BRB",100,100,
"Belarus","BLR",100,100,
"Belgium","BEL",100,100,
"Belize","BLZ",91,..,
"Benin","BEN",67,63,
"Bhutan","BTN",62,..,
"Bolivia","BOL",85,72,
"Bosnia and Herzegovina","BIH",97,97,
"Botswana","BWA",95,93,
"Brazil","BRA",90,83,
"British Virgin Islands","VGB",98,98,
"Bulgaria","BGR",99,99,
"Burkina Faso","BFA",61,38,
"Burundi","BDI",79,69,
"Cambodia","KHM",41,..,
"Cameroon","CMR",66,50,
"Canada","CAN",100,100,
"Cape Verde","CPV",80,..,
"Côte d'Ivoire","CIV",84,69,
"Central African Rep","CAF",75,52,
"Chad","TCD",42,19,
"Chile","CHL",95,90,
"China","CHN",77,70,
"Colombia","COL",93,92,
"Comoros","COM",86,93,
"Congo","COG",58,..,
"Congo, Dem Rep","COD",46,43,
"Cook Islands","COK",94,94,
"Costa Rica","CRI",97,..,
"Croatia","HRV",100,100,
"Cuba","CUB",91,..,
"Cyprus","CYP",100,100,
"Czech Rep","CZE",100,100,
"Denmark","DNK",100,100,
"Djibouti","DJI",73,72,
"Dominica","DMA",97,..,
"Dominican Rep","DOM",95,84,
"Ecuador","ECU",94,73,
"Egypt","EGY",98,94,
"El Salvador","SLV",84,67,
"Equatorial Guinea","GNQ",43,..,
"Eritrea","ERI",60,43,
"Estonia","EST",100,100,
"Ethiopia","ETH",22,23,
"Fiji","FJI",47,..,
"Finland","FIN",100,100,
"France","FRA",100,100,
"French Guiana","GUF",84,..,
"French Polynesia","PYF",100,100,
"Gabon","GAB",88,..,
"Gambia","GMB",82,..,
"Georgia","GEO",82,80,
"Germany","DEU",100,100,
"Ghana","GHA",75,55,
"Grenada","GRD",95,..,
"Guadeloupe","GLP",98,..,
"Guam","GUM",100,100,
"Guatemala","GTM",95,79,
"Guinea","GIN",50,44,
"Guinea-Bissau","GNB",59,..,
"Guyana","GUY",83,..,
"Haiti","HTI",54,47,
"Honduras","HND",87,84,
"Hungary","HUN",99,99,
"Iceland","ISL",100,100,
"India","IND",86,70,
"Indonesia","IDN",77,72,
"Iran, Islamic Rep","IRN",94,92,
"Iraq","IRQ",81,83,
"Israel","ISR",100,100,
"Jamaica","JAM",93,92,
"Japan","JPN",100,100,
"Jordan","JOR",97,97,
"Kazakhstan","KAZ",86,87,
"Kenya","KEN",61,45,
"Kiribati","KIR",65,49,
"Korea, Dem People's Rep","PRK",100,100,
"Korea, Rep","KOR",92,..,
"Kyrgyzstan","KGZ",77,78,
"Lao People's Dem Rep","LAO",51,..,
"Latvia","LVA",99,99,
"Lebanon","LBN",100,100,
"Lesotho","LSO",79,..,
"Liberia","LBR",61,55,
"Libyan Arab Jamahiriya","LBY",..,71,
"Luxembourg","LUX",100,100,
"Madagascar","MDG",46,40,
"Malawi","MWI",73,40,
"Malaysia","MYS",99,98,
"Maldives","MDV",83,96,
"Mali","MLI",50,34,
"Malta","MLT",100,100,
"Marshall Islands","MHL",87,96,
"Mauritania","MRT",53,38,
"Mauritius","MUS",100,100,
"Mexico","MEX",97,82,
"Micronesia, Fed States","FSM",94,88,
"Moldova, Rep","MDA",92,..,
"Monaco","MCO",100,100,
"Mongolia","MNG",62,63,
"Morocco","MAR",81,75,
"Mozambique","MOZ",43,36,
"Myanmar","MMR",78,57,
"Namibia","NAM",87,57,
"Nepal","NPL",90,70,
"Netherlands","NLD",100,100,
"New Zealand","NZL",..,97,
"Nicaragua","NIC",79,70,
"Niger","NER",46,39,
"Nigeria","NGA",48,49,
"Niue","NIU",100,100,
"Northern Mariana Islands","MNP",99,98,
"Norway","NOR",100,100,
"Oman","OMN",..,80,
"Pakistan","PAK",91,83,
"Palau","PLW",85,80,
"Palestinian Territories","",92,..,
"Panama","PAN",90,90,
"Papua New Guinea","PNG",39,39,
"Paraguay","PRY",86,62,
"Peru","PER",83,74,
"Philippines","PHL",85,87,
"Qatar","QAT",100,100,
"Romania","ROU",57,..,
"Russian Federation","RUS",97,94,
"Rwanda","RWA",74,59,
"Saint Kitts and Nevis","KNA",99,99,
"Samoa","WSM",88,91,
"Sao Tome & Principe","STP",79,..,
"Saudi Arabia","SAU",..,90,
"Senegal","SEN",76,65,
"Serbia and Montenegro","YUG",93,93,
"Seychelles","SYC",88,88,
"Sierra Leone","SLE",57,..,
"Singapore","SGP",100,100,
"Slovakia","SVK",100,100,
"Solomon Islands","SLB",70,..,
"Somalia","SOM",29,..,
"South Africa","ZAF",88,83,
"Spain","ESP",100,100,
"Sri Lanka","LKA",79,68,
"St. Lucia","LCA",98,98,
"Sudan","SDN",70,64,
"Suriname","SUR",92,..,
"Swaziland","SWZ",62,..,
"Sweden","SWE",100,100,
"Switzerland","CHE",100,100,
"Syrian Arab Rep","SYR",93,80,
"Tajikistan","TJK",59,..,
"Tanzania","TZA",62,46,
"Thailand","THA",99,95,
"Timor-Leste","TMP",58,..,
"Togo","TGO",52,50,
"Tonga","TON",100,100,
"Trinidad and Tobago","TTO",91,92,
"Tunisia","TUN",93,81,
"Turkey","TUR",96,85,
"Turkmenistan","TKM",72,..,
"Turks and Caicos Islands","TCA",100,100,
"Uganda","UGA",60,44,
"Ukraine","UKR",96,96,
"United Arab Emirates","ARE",100,100,
"United Kingdom","GBR",100,100,
"United States","USA",100,100,
"Uruguay","URY",100,100,
"Uzbekistan","UZB",82,94,
"Vanuatu","VUT",60,60,
"Venezuela","VEN",83,..,
"Viet Nam","VNM",85,65,
"Yemen","YEM",67,71,
"Zambia","ZMB",58,50,
"Zimbabwe","ZWE",81,78,

Footnotes
No footnotes

Source
"World Health Organization (WHO) and United Nation's Children's Fund (UNICEF). 2006. Meeting the MDG Drinking Water and Sanitation Target: The Urban and Rural Challenge of the Decade. Geneva: WHO and New York: UNICEF. Available online at http://www.wssinfo.org/pdf/JMP_06.pdf."


Technical Notes
"Definition:"
"Access to an improved water source measures the total proportion of the population with access to an improved drinking water source, expressed as a percentage."
""
"An improved water source includes any of the following types of drinking water sources: household connections, public standpipes, boreholes, protected dug wells, protected springs, and rainwater collection. Improved water sources are more likely to provide safe drinking water than unimproved sources, but are not a direct measure of 'safe' drinking water. National percentages of access to a 'safe' water supply are likely to be lower than the figures reported here. "
""
"Safe water provides health and economic benefits to households and individuals; nearby access to this water allows individuals to spend less time fetching water and more time on other tasks. A poor water supply and sanitation system can lead to a number of diseases, including diarrhoea, intestinal worms, trachoma, schistosomiasis, and cholera. Examples of unimproved water sources include: unprotected wells and springs, surface water, vendor-provided water, tanker-provided water, and bottled water. These last examples are considered ""unimproved"" because they are not consistently available in sufficient quantitites."
""
"Years Covered and Frequency of Update:"
"Data are for 1990 and 2004. These data were collected under the WHO-UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme and published in August, 2006. Updates to these data are made every few years."
""
"Methodology:"
"Data presented here are based on over 500 nationally representative household surveys and national censuses. The majority of data are collected from Demographic Health Surveys (DHS), Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICS), Living Standards Measurement Studies (LSMS), and World Health Surveys (WHS). The houshold-level information collected by DHS and MICS shows the facilities that are actually being used, not just the facilities that have been installed. The surveys also measure self-built facilities installed by households and local communities. Population data used by WHO and UNICEF in computing percentage estimates come from the United Nations Population Division's World Population Prospects: The 2004 Revision. "
""
"After data collection, survey and census data are plotted on a graph for each country to show coverage in available years (not necessarily 1990 and 2004). A best-fit trend line is drawn and extrapolated out to 1990 and 2004 (common reference years) to determine the amount of improved water coverage."
""
"WHO and UNICEF collaborate to track progress on global water and sanitation goals through the Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply and Sanitation (JMP). The JMP monitors trends in coverage; helps build national monitoring capacity in developing countries; develops and harmonizes questionnaires, indicators and definitions to ensure comparability of data over time and among countries; and informs policy makers of the status of the water supply and sanitation sector worldwide through publications such as this one. The JMP draws guidance from a technical advisory group of leading experts in water supply, sanitation and hygiene, and from institutions involved in data collection and sector monitoring."
""
"Further information about the JMP and its methodology can be found at http://www.wssinfo.org. These data and additional information can also be found at http://www.childinfo.org."
""
"Data Reliability: "
"These data are the result of an intensive and concerted effort to arrive at the best possible estimates of the proportion of the population with an improved water supply. The data have become more reliable as WHO and UNICEF have shifted from provider-based information (national census estimates) to consumer-based information (survey data)."
""
"Nonetheless, users of this data set should keep in mind that the data used to arrive at estimates of an improved water source come from a wide variety of sources of disparate quality. Some countries have numerous sources of data covering the same period, allowing for cross-references, while other estimates are derived from many fewer sources of poor quality. Comparisons among countries should be made with care. The assessment does not account for intermittent or poor quality of water supplies. In addition, regions with higher overall levels of service tend to set stricter requirements for water access."