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

Turkmenistan leads all 112 countries ranked on urban handwashing facilities with soap and water, recording a value of 100%. At the other end, Liberia stands at just 5.64%, meaning fewer than 1 in 18 urban residents has access to basic handwashing on premises. The 94-percentage-point gap between first and last illustrates the scale of disparity in urban sanitation access across the countries covered.

Population & Health category

Ranking 2024

Values shown in %.

Countries by People with basic handwashing facilities including soap and water, urban (% of urban population)
Rank	Country	%
1	Turkmenistan	100.00
2	North Macedonia	99.62
3	Montenegro	99.23
4	Kazakhstan	99.22
5	Saudi Arabia	98.75
6	Ukraine	98.60
7	Bosnia and Herzegovina	98.60
8	Mexico	98.52
9	China	98.30
10	Iraq	97.60
11	Kyrgyzstan	97.17
12	Maldives	97.08
13	Armenia	96.81
14	Azerbaijan	96.31
15	India	96.15
16	Ecuador	95.74
17	Thailand	95.66
18	Philippines	95.59
19	Vietnam	95.43
20	Turks and Caicos Islands	95.37
21	Cuba	94.92
22	Palestine	94.74
23	Georgia	94.60
24	Tunisia	94.52
25	Sri Lanka	93.39
26	Moldova	93.36
27	Bhutan	93.06
28	Tuvalu	92.72
29	Belize	92.14
30	Pakistan	92.09
31	Fiji	91.12
32	Nauru	90.79
33	Cambodia	89.94
34	Egypt	89.80
35	Mongolia	88.73
36	El Salvador	88.32
37	Algeria	88.00
38	Uzbekistan	88.00
39	Saint Lucia	87.94
40	Syria	87.33
41	Tajikistan	86.75
42	Costa Rica	86.54
43	Marshall Islands	86.44
44	Tonga	85.50
45	Trinidad and Tobago	85.49
46	Honduras	85.40
47	Paraguay	85.12
48	Samoa	83.77
49	Guatemala	83.22
50	Myanmar	83.02
51	Indonesia	81.79
52	Bangladesh	80.02
53	Kenya	79.22
54	Colombia	78.29
55	Guyana	78.23
56	Nepal	76.85
57	Suriname	74.80
58	Laos	74.64
59	Yemen	73.77
60	Cabo Verde	71.57
61	Jamaica	71.05
62	Solomon Islands	70.67
63	Vanuatu	65.87
64	Kiribati	64.75
65	Papua New Guinea	64.35
66	Sao Tome and Principe	62.84
67	Namibia	62.41
68	Djibouti	61.31
69	Afghanistan	60.12
70	Mauritania	57.57
71	Republic of Congo	56.11
72	Zimbabwe	55.71
73	Ghana	54.99
74	South Africa	52.56
75	Dominican Republic	51.21
76	Gabon	49.75
77	Eswatini	48.46
78	Angola	44.82
79	Cameroon	43.91
80	Timor-Leste	42.62
81	Comoros	40.69
82	Nigeria	38.20
83	Uganda	36.71
84	Burkina Faso	35.49
85	Madagascar	35.48
86	Central African Republic	35.43
87	South Sudan	34.71
88	Chad	34.08
89	Senegal	33.27
90	Guinea	33.14
91	Côte d'Ivoire	31.41
92	Niger	29.77
93	Rwanda	29.41
94	Bolivia	29.08
95	Zambia	28.73
96	Malawi	27.91
97	Lesotho	27.83
98	Haiti	27.57
99	DR Congo	27.32
100	Mali	27.12
101	Togo	26.93
102	Equatorial Guinea	26.02
103	Mozambique	24.97
104	Guinea-Bissau	24.52
105	Somalia	22.17
106	Tanzania	21.77
107	Sierra Leone	21.22
108	Burundi	19.39
109	Benin	15.80
110	Ethiopia	14.05
111	Gambia	13.51
112	Liberia	5.64

Analysis

This metric measures the percentage of urban residents living in households that have a handwashing facility with soap and water available on the premises. According to the source definition, 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 unit is percentage of urban population. Data are drawn from the World Bank World Development Indicators (indicator code SH.STA.HYGN.UR.ZS) for reference year 2024. Coverage is strong: 112 countries are included, 95.5% of which have data from the last seven years, and 100% of data points carry official-source classification. No extreme outliers were detected at the 3-standard-deviation threshold.

The top of the ranking is dominated by countries across Central Asia, the Middle East, and Eastern Europe. Turkmenistan ranks first at 100%, followed by North Macedonia at 99.62% and Montenegro at 99.23%. Kazakhstan (rank 4, 99.22%) and Saudi Arabia (rank 5, 98.75%) round out the top five. Larger populous nations also appear near the top: China ranks 9th at 98.3% and India ranks 15th at 96.15%, indicating that high urban access is not limited to smaller or wealthier countries. Mexico (rank 8, 98.52%) and Ukraine (rank 6, 98.6%) similarly reflect strong urban access across diverse economic contexts.

The middle of the ranking spans a wide range. Indonesia sits at rank 51 with 81.79%, while Bangladesh ranks 52nd at 80.02%. Notable drops begin around rank 60: Jamaica ranks 61st at 71.05% and Solomon Islands 62nd at 70.67%. South Africa, often grouped with middle-income countries, ranks 74th at just 52.56%. A striking anomaly appears with the Dominican Republic at rank 75 and 51.21%, placing it below Zimbabwe (rank 72, 55.71%) and Namibia (rank 67, 62.41%). The bottom quarter is concentrated in sub-Saharan Africa, with Benin at 109th (15.80%), Ethiopia at 110th (14.05%), Gambia at 111th (13.51%), and Liberia at 112th (5.64%).

Several limitations apply to this metric. The data year listed is 2024, but 76.8% of values reflect the most recent year available, meaning a portion of country values may represent earlier survey rounds. Urban boundaries and definitions of 'urban population' vary by country, which can affect comparability. The metric captures availability of a facility on the premises but does not measure frequency of use, water reliability, or soap quantity. Countries with large internal variation between cities and peri-urban areas will produce a single aggregated figure that may mask local disparities. Data collection methods differ across countries, with some relying on household surveys and others on administrative records, introducing potential inconsistency.

Methodology

Rankings are based on the World Bank World Development Indicators indicator SH.STA.HYGN.UR.ZS, referencing data year 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 dataset covers 112 countries. Of these, 107 out of 112 (95.5%) have data from within the last seven years, and 86 out of 112 (76.8%) have data from the latest available year. All 112 data points (100%) are classified as official-source data. No extreme outliers were identified using a 3-standard-deviation threshold. The average year-over-year change across the dataset is 1.1%, indicating low volatility. Values range from 5.64% (Liberia) to 100% (Turkmenistan), a spread of 1,673.9%. Zero microstates are included in the 112-country set.

Sources

World Bank