Goal 6 of 17 Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all.
Between 2015 and 2024 the share of the world's population using safely managed drinking water rose from 68 to 74 per cent, safely managed sanitation from 48 to 58 per cent, and basic hygiene services from 66 to 80 per cent — real progress built on investment in infrastructure and services.
The gap that remains is enormous. In 2024, 2.1 billion people were without safely managed drinking water, 3.4 billion without safely managed sanitation and 1.7 billion without basic hygiene services. In schools in 2023, 447 million children had no basic drinking water service, 427 million no basic sanitation service and 646 million no basic hygiene service.
Water scarcity affects more than 40 per cent of people, and more than two billion live in countries under high water stress — a figure projected to rise as temperatures do, with Northern Africa, Western Asia and Southern and Central Asia already facing extreme scarcity. Increasing drought and desertification are making the situation worse, and many countries still discharge untreated wastewater.
Goal 6 means safe and affordable drinking water and sanitation for all by 2030, ending open defecation, protecting and restoring water-related ecosystems, and managing water resources across borders through cooperation rather than competition.