6.3 Changes during the 1990s

The changes in water supply and sanitation coverage over the 1990s for urban and rural areas are shown in Figures 6.1 and 6.2.

The graphs suggest that urban services have remained more or less the same over the 1990s. Rural services, however, tell a different story. Rural water supply increased slightly while rural sanitation has fallen. Overall, water coverage is moderately higher in the year 2000 than it was in 1990, while sanitation coverage has fallen slightly over the same period. These findings should be considered cautiously, as data for three large countries (Algeria, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and South Africa) are only available for the year 2000 and have an effect on the totals for Africa.