Global Water Statistics

• Water and sanitation figures. In 2002, one out of six people had no access to clean water while 42% of households had no toilets.
• Mortality due to dirty water. Approximately 4,500 children die each day all over the globe because of unsafe water and lack of access to sanitation facilities. Children also suffer from water-borne diseases, low productivity, and poor performance at school.
• Diarrhoeal mortality of children. In developing countries, over 90% of people who die from diarrhea due to unclean water and poor sanitation compose of children below 5 years old.
• Higher mortality rate on poor countries. Children in Europe or the United States are 520 times less likely to die from diarrhea than those in sub-Saharan Africa, where only 36% of people have access to safe water and sanitation facilities.
• Urban-rural disparity. In 2002, only 37% of people living in rural areas had access to toilets and sanitation facilities, against 81% of people from urban areas. The observed disparities were more pronounced in Latin America and the Caribbean.
• Missed opportunities for women. Because of inadequate water services in developing countries, girls and women walk six kilometers a day on the average, carrying 20 litres of water. This significantly reduces the time for school or for other productive work.
• Reducing the incidence of diarrhea. The incidence of diarrhea can be reduced by as much as 39% by improving household drinking water. Improvements to household sanitation facilities can also reduce the morbidity rate by almost a third. And strikingly, nearly half of the 2 million deaths from diarrhea annually could be prevented just through an understanding of basic hygiene.
• Meeting the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) on water and sanitation. All regions, except sub-Saharan Africa, are bound to meet their water targets. However, under current rates of progress, all regions might miss their sanitation target by more than half a billion people collectively.
• The cost and benefit of the MDG targets. An additional US$11.3 billion each year would be required to meet the MDG targets on water and sanitation. According to a cost-benefit analysis by the World Health Organization, every $1 invested in achieving the Millennium Development targets on water and sanitation would yield returns ranging between $3-$34 depending on the region.

Source:

“Children and water: global statistics.” UNICEF, 16 March 2006, from http://www.unicef.org/wash/index_31600.html.