Share of primary schools with access to drinking water in India
India: Share of primary schools with access to drinking water was 99.0% in 2025. ▲ Rising
Share of primary schools with access to drinking water in India, 2016–2025
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics (2026) – with minor processing by Our World in Data. Measured in %.
Analysis
In 2025, share of primary schools with access to drinking water in India stood at 99.0%. That is the highest value across all 9 years on record.
That represents a change of up 1.2% on the previous year and up 18.0% over ten years.
Over the whole period, share of primary schools with access to drinking water in India peaked at 99.0% in 2025 and was at its lowest, 80.9%, in 2017.
That places India 76th out of 116 countries with data for 2025, putting it in the middle of the range.
Share of primary schools with access to drinking water in India, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 83.9% | — |
| 2017 | 80.9% | -3.6% |
| 2019 | 94.5% | +16.7% |
| 2020 | 92.6% | -2.0% |
| 2021 | 96.4% | +4.2% |
| 2022 | 97.6% | +1.2% |
| 2023 | 97.9% | +0.3% |
| 2024 | 97.9% | -0.0% |
| 2025 | 99.0% | +1.2% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010s | 86.4% | 80.9% | 94.5% | 3 |
| 2020s | 96.9% | 92.6% | 99.0% | 6 |
Countries ranked near India
More education data for India
- Enrolment in tertiary education, all programmes, both sexes (number) 0.732 % change on previous year (2025)
- Teachers in primary education, female (number), gaps filled 3.04 million (2025)
- Teachers in primary education, male (number), gaps filled 2.15 million (2025)
- Enrolment in tertiary education, all programmes, female (number) 21.75 million (2025)
- Enrolment in tertiary education, all programmes, female (number) 1.58 % change on previous year (2025)
- Enrolment in tertiary education, all programmes, male (number), gaps 22.14 million (2025)
- Enrolment in tertiary education, all programmes, male (number) -0.0911 % change on previous year (2025)
- Theoretical duration of primary education (years), annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Theoretical duration of pre-primary education (years), annual growth 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Start of the academic school year (pre-primary to post-secondary non) 0.0494 % change on previous year (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is share of primary schools with access to drinking water in India?
- Share of primary schools with access to drinking water in India was 99.0% in 2025, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics (2026) – with minor processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest share of primary schools with access to drinking water recorded in India?
- The highest recorded value was 99.0% in 2025.
- What is the lowest share of primary schools with access to drinking water recorded in India?
- The lowest recorded value was 80.9% in 2017.
- How does India rank for share of primary schools with access to drinking water?
- India ranks 76th out of 116 countries with data for 2025.
- Is share of primary schools with access to drinking water rising or falling in India?
- Over the last ten years it is up 18.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this India data come from?
- The figures come from UNESCO Institute for Statistics (2026) – with minor processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Share of primary schools with access to drinking water. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 9 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Share of public primary schools with a drinking water facility or water delivery point that is designed to protect water from external contamination, particularly of fecal origin.