How Safe is Drinking Water in Australia Compared to Other Countries Around the World?
In this article, we will explore how Australia fares in terms of drinking water safety compared to other countries around the world.

Access to safe drinking water is essential to human health, yet millions of people around the world lack access to it, leading to illnesses and deaths.

Our Team here at My Water Filter is well and truly aware of this issue and have donated funds to enable over 1,681,427 million days of access to clean drinking water to people in need.

To measure the safety of drinking water, experts use the DALY rate, which stands for "disability-adjusted life-years."

This measure represents the number of years of healthy life lost due to exposure to unsafe drinking water, standardized by age. A DALY rate of 100 indicates that a country has among the lowest rates in the world, while a score of 0 means that a country has among the highest rates.



The Institute for Health Metrics & Evaluation's Global Burden of Disease study provides data for this indicator, enabling us to compare drinking water safety across countries.

Country Rank EPI Score 10-Year Change
Iceland 1 100 0.6
Norway 1 100 1.4
Austria 1 100 NA
Switzerland 1 100 NA
Finland 1 100 NA
Greece 1 100 NA
Ireland 1 100 NA
Malta 1 100 NA
Netherlands 1 100 NA
United Kingdom 1 100 1.7
Germany 11 98.6 1.3
Sweden 12 97.9 1.1
Italy 13 97.8 0.9
Luxembourg 13 97.8 2.3
Denmark 15 95.8 1.7
Spain 16 94.8 1.7
Israel 17 93.8 1.5
France 17 93.8 4.1
Belgium 19 93 2.9
Japan 20 91.8 1.6
Cyprus 21 91.7 0.8
Canada 22 90.9 2.6
United States of America 23 89.3 2.2
Singapore 24 88.9 1.3
Portugal 25 85.7 2.7
South Korea 26 84.6 1.7
Australia 27 81.2 0.7
Brunei Darussalam 28 79.9 0.3
New Zealand 29 74.5 1
Slovenia 30 70.3 -0.2
Taiwan 31 67.2 1.1
Chile 32 66.8 2.7
Poland 33 65.7 1.3
Czech Republic 34 65.2 -0.3
Slovakia 35 64.6 1.2
Mauritius 36 63.6 1.8
Croatia 37 63.3 1.2
Uruguay 38 61.8 3.5
Armenia 39 61.7 4
Belarus 40 60.7 1.5
Hungary 41 60.6 -0.1
Serbia 42 60.5 2.4
Argentina 43 59.5 3.1
Estonia 44 59.2 0.7
China 45 58.4 5.2
North Macedonia 46 58.3 2.2
Bulgaria 47 58 2.3
Latvia 48 57.7 0.9
Lithuania 49 57.4 0.5
Bosnia and Herzegovina 50 57.3 2.6
Kuwait 51 57.2 0.6
Qatar 52 57 0.8
Montenegro 53 56.8 1.9
Kazakhstan 54 56 3.3
Russia 55 55.8 0.9
Romania 56 55.4 2.3
Costa Rica 57 55.3 2.6
Ukraine 58 55.1 -0.8
Jordan 59 54.4 2.4
Uzbekistan 60 54 2.2
Georgia 61 52.3 1.6
United Arab Emirates 62 51.7 0.9
Saudi Arabia 63 51 3.9
Viet Nam 64 50.9 3.1
Moldova 65 50.8 1.8
Albania 66 50.3 1.4
Bahrain 67 50.1 1
Colombia 67 50.1 5.2
Mexico 69 50 4.8
Tunisia 70 49.1 0.7
Algeria 70 49.1 2.5
Iran 72 48.8 2.2
Trinidad and Tobago 73 48.5 0.8
Malaysia 74 48.2 0.7
Barbados 75 47.8 -0.7
Bahamas 75 47.8 -0.4
Turkmenistan 77 47.7 9
Jamaica 78 47.3 -0.5
Kyrgyzstan 78 47.3 5.8
Turkey 80 47 1.9
Lebanon 81 46.8 2.1
Sri Lanka 82 46.7 4
Ecuador 82 46.7 5.6
Oman 84 46.5 1.6
Azerbaijan 84 46.5 2.6
Cuba 86 46 0.4
Iraq 87 45.9 9.9
Seychelles 88 45.8 1.3
Antigua and Barbuda 89 45.2 NA
Paraguay 89 45.2 4.7
Brazil 89 45.2 7.9
Grenada 92 44.4 NA
Maldives 93 44.2 2.6
Mongolia 94 43.8 3.5
Venezuela 95 43.6 2.3
Dominica 96 43.5 -0.2
Tonga 97 42.8 -0.4
Peru 97 42.8 2.1
Thailand 99 42.7 2.5
Saint Lucia 100 42.2 -0.3
Nicaragua 100 42.2 7.1
Panama 102 41.7 5.7
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 103 41.1 0.9
El Salvador 104 40.8 3.6
Samoa 105 40.4 0.2
Belize 106 39.6 1.9
Bolivia 107 38.5 5.6
Egypt 108 36.7 7.4
Morocco 108 36.7 8.3
Suriname 110 35.4 2.8
Dominican Republic 111 35.2 2.1
Cabo Verde 112 34.5 4.4
Philippines 113 34.4 5.6
Sao Tome and Principe 114 34.1 11
Cambodia 115 33.3 7.4
Micronesia 116 33 1.7
Guyana 117 32.6 4.8
Fiji 118 32 2.6
Tajikistan 119 31.7 7.1
Bhutan 120 31.5 4.9
Honduras 121 30.9 6
Marshall Islands 122 30.3 4.3
Myanmar 123 30 9.8
Equatorial Guinea 124 29.6 8.4
Afghanistan 125 27.8 8
Guatemala 126 27.2 7.6
Gabon 126 27.2 9.4
Bangladesh 128 26.9 5.4
Timor-Leste 129 26.2 4.2
Laos 130 26.1 9.5
Nepal 131 25.9 8.1
Indonesia 132 24.9 5.8
South Africa 133 23.4 7.4
Sudan 134 22.6 11.1
Vanuatu 135 21.4 3.1
Ghana 136 20.4 4
Botswana 137 20.2 6.1
Gambia 138 19 5.6
Namibia 139 18.9 5.2
Tanzania 140 18.4 5.7
India 141 18.3 8.6
Djibouti 142 18.2 5
Uganda 143 17.7 3.5
Cote d'Ivoire 144 17 5.9
Rwanda 144 17 7.1
Mozambique 146 16.5 6.5
Zimbabwe 147 16.2 8.2
Papua New Guinea 148 15.8 4
Kiribati 149 15.6 4
Comoros 150 15.4 5.6
Pakistan 151 15.3 4.9
Republic of Congo 152 14.5 10.1
Solomon Islands 153 14.4 4.7
Haiti 154 13.9 3.2
Kenya 155 13.7 6.7
Benin 156 13.6 4.5
Mauritania 156 13.6 8.5
Dem. Rep. Congo 158 13.4 10.1
Zambia 159 13.2 7.3
Senegal 160 13 4.6
Eswatini 161 12.2 5.9
Malawi 162 12.1 5.3
Angola 163 12 9.2
Sierra Leone 164 11.6 4.4
Ethiopia 165 11.3 5.9
Guinea 166 11 4.9
Liberia 167 9.5 7.3
Mali 168 8.3 5.6
Burkina Faso 169 7.9 3.7
Cameroon 170 7.5 6.4
Lesotho 171 7.2 4
Guinea-Bissau 172 6.6 6.6
Eritrea 173 6.4 4.5
Madagascar 174 6.2 5.1
Burundi 175 5.4 2.9
Togo 176 4.9 4.9
Nigeria 177 4.3 4.3
Niger 178 1.7 1.7
Central African Republic 179 NA NA
Chad 179 NA NA