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Sustainable Development Goal 6 on water and sanitation (SDG 6)

SDG 6 seeks to ensure safe drinking water and sanitation for all, focusing on the sustainable management of water resources, wastewater and ecosystems, and acknowledging the importance of an enabling environment. In the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, countries have committed to engage in systematic follow-up and review of progress towards the Goals and targets, using a set of global indicators.

Global Status

  • Drinking water

    72.92715227925 of the world’s population uses a safely managed drinking water service (SDG indicator 6.1.1, 2022)
  • Sanitation

    56.604371809894 of the world’s population uses a safely managed sanitation service (SDG indicator 6.2.1a, 2022)
  • Hygiene

    75.153735616194 of the world’s population has a handwashing facility with soap and water available at home (SDG indicator 6.2.1b, 2022)
  • Wastewater

    57.79183197 of the world’s domestic wastewater is safely treated (SDG indicator 6.3.1, 2022)
  • Water quality

    60 of the world’s monitored water bodies has good ambient water quality (SDG indicator 6.3.2, 2020)
  • Efficiency

    18.9 is the value added from the use of water by people and the economy at the global level (SDG indicator 6.4.1, 2020)
  • Water stress

    18.24 of the world’s renewable water resources is being withdrawn, after taking into account environmental flow requirements (SDG indicator 6.4.2, 2020)
  • Water management

    54 is the degree of implementation of integrated water resources management (IWRM) at the global level (SDG indicator 6.5.1, 2020) 
  • Transboundary

    58.01 of the world’s transboundary basin areas has an operational arrangement for water cooperation (SDG indicator 6.5.2, 2020)
  • Ecosystems

    21 of the world’s water basins is experiencing rapid changes in the area covered by surface waters (SDG 6 indicator 6.6.1, 2020)
  • Cooperation

    8.7 is the global amount of water- and sanitation-related official development assistance received in 2020 (SDG indicator 6.a.1)
  • Participation

    + is the global average number of sub-sectors (out of 6) with a high level of participation by communities (SDG indicator 6.b.1, 2021)

There are 11 global indicators to track progress towards SDG 6. The global estimates are based on country data, compiled and verified by the United Nations agencies responsible, sometimes complemented by data from other sources. For some indicators, there are not enough country data available to make a global estimate.

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About the global indicators for SDG 6