Africa and Asia most affected by lack of drinking water in children's schools

A recent UNICEF report shows that 293m children worldwide did not have drinking water in their schools in 2023. Six African and four Asian countries make up the top ten, with Ethiopia and Nigeria occupying first and second positions, respectively, with 33.2m and 29m children.

The top five countries account for 42% of the total affected population.

Source:

UNICEF

Period:

2023
HTML code to embed chart
Want a bespoke report?
Reach out
Tags
Related Insights

Nigeria recorded a 76% drop in HIV cases over five years
  • The 2019 number revealed the truth — years of underdiagnosis were corrected in a single year when PEPFAR restructured testing entirely.
  • The 76% decline from 2019 to 2024 is one of the most significant HIV reductions in Africa in a single decade.
  • One year of disruption in 2020 erased an entire year of progress, creating a backlog that took until 2022 to clear.
  • With PEPFAR's $1.2 billion pipeline cut, fewer Nigerians are being tested, meaning fewer cases appear on paper while the virus spreads undetected.

Three in four girls in Niger got married before 18
  • Niger (76%), the Central African Republic (61%), and Chad (61%) top the global list, meaning the majority of women in these countries marry as children.
  • Seven of the top ten countries by prevalence are African, showing that child marriage is most entrenched relative to population on the continent.
  • Countries in South Asia — Bangladesh (51%) and Nepal (35%) — and Latin America — Suriname (36%) and Belize (34%) — also feature, highlighting the global nature of the challenge.
  • While some countries have larger populations, this list ranks the share of girls affected, not the absolute number, meaning even smaller populations can show extreme societal impact if the prevalence is high.

While Africa's total fertility rate remains the highest in 2025 (3.95), every other continent is below 2.2
  • Africa’s fertility rate in 2025 is estimated at 3.95, the highest in the world.
  • Europe’s fertility rate is the lowest in 2025 at just 1.41 children per woman.
  • Latin America and the Caribbean saw a steep drop from 5.83 in 1955 to 1.78 in 2025.
  • Asia’s fertility rate fell from 5.85 in 1955 to 1.87 in 2025.
  • Oceania’s fertility rate dropped from 6.58 in 1955 to 2.13 in 2025.
  • By 2025, all continents except Africa are at or below the replacement rate of 2.1.

Nigeria had the highest number of malnourished people in Africa in 2023, with 45.4 million
  • In Africa, 275 million people were recorded to be malnourished in 2023.
  • Nigeria led the list of countries in Africa with the highest number of malnourished people (45.40 million), making 16.5% of the total.
  • Nigeria was followed by the Democratic Republic of Congo with 40.7 million, 14.8% of the total.
  • Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia and Kenya made up almost 50% of the total number of malnourished people in Africa.

793 Million people in India could not afford a healthy diet in 2022, representing 28% of the global total
  • India tops the list of the global number of people unable to afford a decent meal with a value of 792.80 million causing unaffordability to prevail in the country by 55.6%.
  • China emerged as the second country in this global list with 208.10 million people falling in this category and unaffordability prevalence of 14.6%.
  • Nigeria claimed 6.2% of the global total with 175.6M, making it the 3rd country with the highest number of healthy diet unaffordability.
  • High number of people that could not afford a healthy diet does not outrightly equal high percentage of healthy diet unaffordability.

Western Pacific region is projected to top global nurse count with 9.7M by 2030
  • The Western Pacific Region is projected to lead globally in nursing personnel by 2030, with an estimated 9.7 million nurses — more than Africa and Southeast Asia combined.
  • The Americas (8.9M) and Europe (8.2M) are expected to follow, maintaining high nurse-to-population ratios.
  • Africa (2.1M) and the Eastern Mediterranean (1.5M) are projected to remain lowest, despite growing health needs.
  • South-East Asia (5.5M) shows steady growth but still lags behind the top three regions.
  • The global nursing workforce is projected to reach 35.9 million by 2030, up 73% from 2013 — but growth remains uneven.

POPULAR TOPICS
SIGN UP TO OUR NEWSLETTER
Get periodic updates about the African startup space, access to our reports, among others.
Subscribe Here
Subscription Form

A product of Techpoint Africa. All rights reserved