Countries by People with basic handwashing facilities including soap and water, rural (% of rural population)

Mexico and Turkmenistan both achieve 100% coverage of basic handwashing facilities with soap and water in rural areas, ranking first among 112 countries. At the opposite end, Liberia records just 0.96%, meaning fewer than 1 in 100 rural residents has access to a handwashing facility with soap and water on the premises. The gap between the top and bottom of this ranking spans nearly 100 percentage points.

Population & Health category

Ranking 2024

Values shown in %.

Countries by People with basic handwashing facilities including soap and water, rural (% of rural population)
Rank	Country	%
1	Mexico	100.00
1	Turkmenistan	100.00
3	North Macedonia	99.75
4	Montenegro	99.28
5	Philippines	98.91
6	Kazakhstan	98.73
7	Kyrgyzstan	97.29
8	Iraq	96.87
9	Saudi Arabia	96.57
10	Tuvalu	96.32
11	Bosnia and Herzegovina	96.05
12	Bhutan	95.72
13	Azerbaijan	95.51
14	Palestine	95.51
15	China	95.30
16	Maldives	94.97
17	Egypt	94.21
18	Thailand	93.41
19	Armenia	90.26
20	Turks and Caicos Islands	88.78
21	Belize	88.69
22	Tunisia	88.41
23	Cuba	88.09
24	El Salvador	88.00
25	Ukraine	87.75
26	Georgia	87.44
27	Saint Lucia	87.19
28	Sri Lanka	86.32
29	Cambodia	86.18
30	India	85.92
31	Guyana	85.41
32	Ecuador	84.88
33	Vietnam	84.86
34	Honduras	84.33
35	Costa Rica	83.31
36	Trinidad and Tobago	82.55
37	Moldova	82.26
38	Mongolia	81.15
39	Syria	80.59
40	Marshall Islands	80.25
41	Pakistan	80.21
42	Fiji	80.13
43	Tonga	79.56
44	Indonesia	76.87
45	Algeria	75.33
46	Uzbekistan	75.14
47	Peru	72.27
48	Paraguay	71.99
49	Myanmar	70.66
50	Guatemala	69.93
51	Jamaica	69.46
52	Samoa	69.44
53	Tajikistan	67.60
54	Suriname	66.84
55	Bangladesh	66.06
56	Nepal	65.75
57	Kiribati	58.58
58	Laos	56.59
59	Yemen	56.26
60	Afghanistan	48.87
61	Kenya	48.18
62	Sao Tome and Principe	43.11
63	Vanuatu	42.22
64	Cabo Verde	37.70
65	Eswatini	36.27
66	Zimbabwe	36.11
67	Dominican Republic	33.35
68	Colombia	32.95
69	Comoros	32.20
70	Republic of Congo	31.81
71	Gabon	31.64
72	Ghana	31.31
73	Papua New Guinea	30.76
74	Cameroon	28.67
75	Solomon Islands	28.40
76	South Africa	27.48
77	Namibia	27.48
78	Chad	23.70
79	Nigeria	22.88
80	Timor-Leste	21.93
81	Bolivia	21.89
82	Burkina Faso	21.10
83	Senegal	20.52
84	Uganda	19.97
85	Equatorial Guinea	19.89
86	Niger	19.81
87	Angola	19.14
88	South Sudan	18.43
89	Lesotho	17.73
90	Mauritania	16.97
91	Sierra Leone	16.73
92	Rwanda	16.04
93	Guinea-Bissau	15.73
94	Haiti	15.46
95	Madagascar	15.14
96	Tanzania	14.81
97	Guinea	13.08
98	Malawi	12.55
99	DR Congo	12.33
100	Central African Republic	12.13
101	Gambia	11.93
102	Djibouti	11.60
103	Somalia	11.14
104	Côte d'Ivoire	11.14
105	Mozambique	9.88
106	Benin	9.84
107	Togo	9.83
108	Zambia	9.23
109	Mali	9.12
110	Burundi	4.10
111	Ethiopia	3.31
112	Liberia	0.96

Analysis

This metric measures the share of rural residents living in households with a basic handwashing facility including soap and water available on the premises. According to the World Bank World Development Indicators (indicator SH.STA.HYGN.RU.ZS), handwashing facilities may be fixed or mobile and include a sink with tap water, buckets with taps, tippy-taps, and jugs or basins designated for handwashing. Soap includes bar soap, liquid soap, powder detergent, and soapy water but does not include ash, soil, sand or other substitutes. Values are expressed as a percentage of the rural population. The dataset covers 112 countries, with 95.5% of entries drawn from data collected within the last seven years, and 100% of datapoints classified as official. No extreme outliers were identified using a 3-standard-deviation threshold.

The top of the ranking is concentrated in Central Asia, the Middle East, and parts of Europe and Southeast Asia. Mexico and Turkmenistan both reach 100%. North Macedonia ranks third at 99.75% and Montenegro fourth at 99.28%. The Philippines places fifth at 98.91%, Kazakhstan sixth at 98.73%, and Kyrgyz Republic seventh at 97.29%. Iraq (rank 8, 96.87%), Saudi Arabia (rank 9, 96.57%), and Bhutan (rank 12, 95.72%) also rank in the top tier. China (rank 15) reports 95.3%, and India (rank 30) records 85.92%, reflecting that large populations can still achieve relatively high rural coverage rates.

The middle of the ranking shows considerable clustering between roughly 65% and 85%. Bangladesh ranks 55th at 66.06%, Nepal 56th at 65.75%, and Lao PDR 58th at 56.59%. A notable anomaly appears in the Dominican Republic, which ranks 67th at just 33.35%, placing it well below neighbors in the Latin American region such as El Salvador (rank 24, 88.00%) and Honduras (rank 34, 84.33%). Bolivia also ranks low for its region at 81st with 21.89%. Sub-Saharan African countries dominate the lower half of the ranking. Chad ranks 78th at 23.70%, Nigeria 79th at 22.88%, and Ethiopia 111th at 3.31%. Burundi ranks 110th at 4.10%, just above Liberia at 112th.

Several limitations apply to this metric. Coverage is limited to 112 countries, meaning many nations, particularly smaller or lower-income states, may lack data entirely. The consistency check shows that only 76.8% of countries have data from the most recent reference year, meaning some rankings reflect surveys conducted several years apart, which can affect comparability. The metric captures facility availability and the presence of soap and water but does not measure actual handwashing behavior or frequency. Reporting relies on household surveys that may vary in methodology across countries, and self-reported availability of soap could be subject to recall or social desirability bias. Differences in how rural boundaries are defined across countries can also affect values.

Methodology

Data are drawn from the World Bank World Development Indicators, indicator code SH.STA.HYGN.RU.ZS, with a reference year of 2024. The metric is defined as the percentage of people living in households that have a handwashing facility with soap and water available on the premises. Handwashing facilities may be fixed or mobile and include a sink with tap water, buckets with taps, tippy-taps, and jugs or basins designated for handwashing. Soap includes bar soap, liquid soap, powder detergent, and soapy water but does not include ash, soil, sand or other substitutes. The ranking covers 112 countries, surpassing the 80-country coverage threshold. Of these, 107 out of 112 (95.5%) have data from within the last seven years. All 112 datapoints are classified as official sources (100%), exceeding the 70% quality threshold. No extreme outliers were detected at the 3-standard-deviation level. Average year-over-year change is 2.1%, well within the 50% volatility threshold. Values range from 0.96% (Liberia) to 100% (Mexico, Turkmenistan), representing a spread of over 10,000%. The unit is percentage of rural population, and higher values indicate greater access.

Sources

World Bank