Countries by People using safely managed sanitation services (% of population)

Five countries — Andorra, Kuwait, Malta, Monaco, and Singapore — each achieve 100% coverage of safely managed sanitation services, meaning their entire populations use improved, unshared facilities with safe excreta disposal. At the other end, Greenland records 0%, and Ethiopia ranks 145th at just 8.05%. The 100-percentage-point gap between the top and bottom of this ranking reflects stark differences in sanitation infrastructure across 146 countries.

Population & Health category

Ranking 2024

Values shown in %.

Countries by People using safely managed sanitation services (% of population)
Rank	Country	%
1	Andorra	100.00
1	Kuwait	100.00
1	Malta	100.00
1	Monaco	100.00
1	Singapore	100.00
6	Qatar	99.94
7	Switzerland	99.69
8	South Korea	99.33
9	Japan	99.19
10	Denmark	98.90
11	Austria	98.50
12	United Arab Emirates	98.45
13	United Kingdom	97.84
14	Poland	97.83
15	Netherlands	97.50
16	Israel	97.17
17	United States	97.01
18	Germany	96.77
19	Lithuania	96.40
20	Luxembourg	96.32
21	Liechtenstein	96.30
22	Australia	95.77
23	Sweden	95.35
24	Chile	95.13
25	Belgium	94.90
26	Hong Kong	94.83
27	Portugal	93.92
28	Bahrain	93.35
29	Kyrgyzstan	93.03
30	Greece	92.89
31	Latvia	92.53
32	Ukraine	92.39
33	Hungary	91.71
34	Czechia	91.38
35	Estonia	90.56
36	San Marino	90.19
37	Finland	90.12
38	France	89.99
39	Romania	89.80
40	New Zealand	88.80
41	Spain	88.28
42	Malaysia	85.79
43	Isle of Man	84.82
44	Slovenia	84.54
45	Saudi Arabia	83.89
46	Slovakia	83.43
47	Canada	81.30
48	Ireland	81.26
49	Jordan	80.08
50	Macao	79.96
51	Tunisia	79.79
52	Türkiye	78.86
53	Italy	78.21
54	Norway	77.93
55	Cyprus	76.97
56	Bulgaria	75.72
57	Croatia	74.73
58	Uzbekistan	74.60
59	Belarus	74.44
60	South Africa	73.78
61	Jamaica	73.61
62	Palestine	73.51
63	Laos	71.38
64	Mongolia	69.95
65	Albania	69.28
66	China	68.87
67	Azerbaijan	68.00
68	Georgia	62.97
69	India	62.79
70	Mexico	62.75
71	Algeria	62.49
72	Philippines	62.17
73	Eswatini	60.84
74	Myanmar	60.53
75	Paraguay	58.53
76	Russia	58.19
77	Egypt	57.34
78	Bosnia and Herzegovina	56.63
79	Peru	56.49
80	Brazil	54.96
81	Nepal	53.41
82	Cambodia	51.60
83	Iraq	50.90
84	Montenegro	50.87
85	Bhutan	49.48
86	Comoros	49.36
87	Ecuador	49.29
88	Argentina	48.54
89	Fiji	48.50
90	Malawi	46.15
91	Cuba	45.88
92	Vietnam	45.37
93	Samoa	44.12
94	Lesotho	43.75
95	Guyana	43.44
96	Yemen	43.12
97	Dominican Republic	42.97
98	American Samoa	42.93
99	Tuvalu	39.71
100	Djibouti	39.66
101	Trinidad and Tobago	38.02
102	Bangladesh	37.32
103	El Salvador	35.97
104	Kenya	35.83
105	Sao Tome and Principe	34.69
106	Mozambique	33.94
107	Turks and Caicos Islands	33.91
108	Nauru	33.16
109	Puerto Rico	32.51
110	Nigeria	32.21
111	Tonga	31.25
112	Senegal	30.08
113	Tanzania	28.46
114	Gambia	28.09
115	Côte d'Ivoire	27.10
116	Thailand	26.72
117	Costa Rica	26.29
118	Venezuela	26.02
119	Lebanon	25.67
120	Suriname	25.13
121	Afghanistan	24.78
122	Burkina Faso	24.72
123	Kiribati	24.65
124	Serbia	24.07
125	Zimbabwe	23.56
126	Guinea-Bissau	22.60
127	Libya	21.75
128	Uganda	20.36
129	Mali	20.01
130	Ghana	18.76
131	Colombia	18.69
132	Sierra Leone	16.85
133	Papua New Guinea	16.66
134	Somalia	16.38
135	Benin	16.36
136	Central African Republic	13.53
137	DR Congo	13.08
138	Togo	13.02
139	Madagascar	12.80
140	North Macedonia	12.11
141	Chad	11.09
142	Armenia	10.74
143	Niger	9.15
144	Morocco	8.42
145	Ethiopia	8.05
146	Greenland	0.00

Analysis

This metric measures the percentage of people using safely managed sanitation services, expressed as a share of the total population. According to the source definition, it covers 'the percentage of people using improved sanitation facilities that are not shared with other households and where excreta are safely disposed of in situ or transported and treated offsite. Improved sanitation facilities include flush/pour flush to piped sewer systems, septic tanks or pit latrines: ventilated improved pit latrines, compositing toilets or pit latrines with slabs.' Households sharing facilities with other households are excluded, as are open defecation and unimproved facilities. The dataset covers 146 countries using World Bank World Development Indicators (indicator code SH.STA.SMSS.ZS), with a reference year of 2024. Of the 146 countries included, 144 (98.6%) have data from the last seven years, 141 (96.6%) report data from the latest year, and 100% of datapoints are classified as official. No extreme outliers were identified using a 3-standard-deviation threshold.

The top of the ranking is dominated by high-income economies in Europe and the Gulf. Five countries share the top rank at 100%: Andorra, Kuwait, Malta, Monaco, and Singapore (Rank 1). Qatar follows at Rank 6 with 99.94%, Switzerland at Rank 7 with 99.69%, South Korea at Rank 8 with 99.33%, Japan at Rank 9 with 99.19%, and Denmark at Rank 10 with 98.90%. Austria (Rank 11, 98.50%) and the United Arab Emirates (Rank 12, 98.45%) also appear in the top tier. The clustering of Gulf states — Kuwait (Rank 1, 100%), Qatar (Rank 6, 99.94%), UAE (Rank 12, 98.45%), and Bahrain (Rank 28, 93.35%) — alongside Western European nations indicates that high national income correlates with strong performance on this metric.

The middle of the ranking reveals notable variation, including some counterintuitive placements. Norway ranks 54th at 77.93%, below Chile (Rank 24, 95.13%), Poland (Rank 14, 97.83%), and Kyrgyz Republic (Rank 29, 93.03%). Italy ranks 53rd at 78.21%, lower than Latvia (Rank 31, 92.53%), Ukraine (Rank 32, 92.39%), and Romania (Rank 39, 89.80%). Canada ranks 47th at 81.30%, below Israel (Rank 16, 97.17%) and the United Kingdom (Rank 13, 97.84%). Serbia ranks 124th at 24.07%, well below neighboring Croatia (Rank 57, 74.73%) and Hungary (Rank 33, 91.71%), indicating large intra-regional disparities in the Western Balkans. Colombia ranks 131st at 18.69%, placing it below Uganda (Rank 128, 20.36%) and Ghana (Rank 130, 18.76%).

Several data limitations apply to this metric. The definition requires that facilities are not shared with other households and that excreta are safely disposed of — criteria that rely on household-level survey data, which vary in methodology and frequency across countries. Countries with older underlying survey data may not reflect current conditions; two of the 146 countries do not have data from the last seven years. The metric does not capture quality of service continuity, such as whether facilities function reliably throughout the year. Greenland's score of 0% (Rank 146) is a statistical outlier that may reflect data reporting conventions or coverage gaps rather than a complete absence of sanitation infrastructure. The range of 0% to 100% represents a 999% spread, which is unusually wide and warrants caution when comparing countries at the extremes.

Methodology

Data are drawn from the World Bank World Development Indicators, indicator code SH.STA.SMSS.ZS, with a reference year of 2024. The metric is defined verbatim in the source as: 'The percentage of people using improved sanitation facilities that are not shared with other households and where excreta are safely disposed of in situ or transported and treated offsite. Improved sanitation facilities include flush/pour flush to piped sewer systems, septic tanks or pit latrines: ventilated improved pit latrines, compositing toilets or pit latrines with slabs.' The ranking covers 146 countries. Of these, 144 (98.6%) have data from the last seven years and 141 (96.6%) report data from the latest reference year. All 146 datapoints (100%) are classified as official-quality data. No extreme outliers were identified at the 3-standard-deviation threshold. Average year-over-year change across the dataset is 1.6%, indicating low volatility. Values range from 0.00% (Greenland, Rank 146) to 100.00% (five countries, Rank 1), a spread of 999%. Higher values indicate better performance on this metric.

Sources

World Bank