Massive growth in access to clean water

The lack of access to clean drinking water, functioning sanitation systems, and a place to wash one’s hands is a major gateway for some of the most devastating diseases that sweep poor populations, especially those that kill children under 5 around the world.

So it is a major step in basic health and quality of life that, in the past quarter century, a quarter of the world’s population – 2.2 billion people – has gained access to clean drinking water and a third – 2.8 billion – to safely managed sanitation systems.

This while the global population swelled from 6.2 billion to 8.2 billion. The number of people without clean water and sanitation went down as the total population went up. Progress was stronger in rural areas than urban areas, and – perhaps not surprisingly – in countries rising out of poverty than in countries still in the lowest income category.

This is one of many measures marking the rise of much of the world from the depths of poverty decade by decade.

Source: World Health Organization