A survey by Inegi revealed that access levels to drinking water in Mexico are increasingly lower compared to past years.
Only 52.3 percent of the population living in Mexican cities have a constant supply of drinking water, according to the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (Inegi) this Wednesday.
According to the National Survey of Governmental Quality and Impact (Encig), the percentage of the urban population with constant service decreased from 57.7 percent in 2021 to 52.3 last year, while in 2019, 62.4 percent of people said they had this service constantly.
According to the data, nine states reduced their constant supply between 2021 and 2023: Chihuahua, Guanajuato, Hidalgo, Nuevo León, Puebla, Quintana Roo, Tamaulipas, Veracruz, and Yucatán.
While six increased their percentage in this category: Colima, Mexico City, Guerrero, Nayarit, Tabasco, and Zacatecas.
Furthermore, the report revealed that while in five localities (Colima, Baja California, Querétaro, Sinaloa, and Guanajuato), more than 70 percent of the population had access to drinking water supply in 2023, in Guerrero only 25 percent of the people had it and in Nuevo León only 30.4 percent.
The entities that registered the largest drops in the percentage of their population with regular supply between 2021 and 2023 were Nuevo León, with 63 points; Hidalgo with 38.6, and Quintana Roo with 27.
Additionally, the survey revealed that only 20.9 percent of the population trusts that they can drink the tap water in their city without getting sick, compared to 24.4 percent who trusted in 2021.
While 63.4 percent of the national population stated that drinking water is wasted due to leaks in their city.
Nationally, 92.3 percent of respondents indicated that the drinking water in their city comes from the public network.
Inegi also reported that in 2023, half of the population of at least 18 years old in urban areas said they were satisfied with basic and on-demand public services.
The general satisfaction of citizens with basic and on-demand public services, at the national level, went from 48.2 percent in 2021 to half last year.
Likewise, citizens reported being satisfied with services such as drinking water supply and garbage collection, with 50.7 and 72.6 percent, respectively.
While the basic public services to which citizens gave the lowest ratings were streets and avenues, and Police, the latter with a satisfaction rate of 29.7 percent.
The survey data is revealed while most of the country is experiencing a water crisis, which has worsened in populations such as Mexico City.
Source: El Financiero
