Ghana's people with basic handwashing facilities including soap and water, rural (% of rural population) was 31.31% in 2024, the latest year in the World Bank's World Development Indicators. That is down 5.16 percentage points from 36.47% in 2014.
Key figures
| Value | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| Latest | 31.31% | 2024 |
| Five years earlier | 34.17% | 2019 |
| Ten years earlier | 36.47% | 2014 |
| Highest | 36.47% | 2011 |
| Lowest | 31.31% | 2024 |
| Average since 2015 | 33.89% | 2015–2024 |
| First recorded | 36.47% | 2011 |
What the numbers say
In 2024, Ghana's people with basic handwashing facilities including soap and water, rural (% of rural population) fell 0.57 percentage points on 2023 (from 31.88% to 31.31%).
Across the 12 yearly changes before that (2012 to 2023), the average change was −0.38 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 0.28 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.7 standard deviations below that average, so it was an ordinary year: it sits within the range of normal year-to-year movement.
On record, the biggest yearly fall was 0.57 percentage points in 2017. The numbers show how large and when, not why; for the cause, look at what happened in that country in those years.
From 2015 to 2024 the straight-line trend is downward, about 0.57 percentage points a year. A straight line explains 100% of the movement over 10 observed years.
Worked out from the yearly values above. How the checks work: standard deviation, z-scores and straight-line trends.
How it compares
In 2024, Ghana had the 46th highest value of the 72 economies reporting that year. Higher is not always better: for some indicators the lowest value is the one to aim for. See the full ranking.
| Value | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| Ghana | 31.31% | 2024 |
| Sub-Saharan Africa | 18.06% | 2024 |
| Lower middle income | 73.42% | 2024 |
Closest to Ghana in the 2024 ranking
- Dominican Republic — 43rd of 72: 33.35%
- Colombia — 44th of 72: 32.95%
- Comoros — 45th of 72: 32.2%
- Papua New Guinea — 47th of 72: 30.76%
- Cameroon — 48th of 72: 28.67%
- Chad — 49th of 72: 23.7%
What this measures
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 handwashing agents.
Limitations: Generally, data on handwashing facilities are limited in high-income countries due to the infrequent collection of such information. In the early 2000s, even low- and middle-income countries often lacked this data. However, the recent standardization of hygiene-related questions in international surveys has led to an improvement in the availability of data.
Regional and income-group figures are computed by the World Bank as a weighted average.
All 14 values
| Year | People with basic handwashing facilities including soap and water, rural (% of rural population) |
|---|---|
| 2024 | 31.31 |
| 2023 | 31.88 |
| 2022 | 32.45 |
| 2021 | 33.03 |
| 2020 | 33.6 |
| 2019 | 34.17 |
| 2018 | 34.75 |
| 2017 | 35.32 |
| 2016 | 35.89 |
| 2015 | 36.47 |
People with basic handwashing facilities including soap and water, rural (% of rural population) in nearby economies
- Angola — 19.14% (2024)
- Benin — 9.84% (2024)
- Burkina Faso — 21.1% (2024)
- Burundi — 4.1% (2023)
- Cameroon — 28.67% (2024)
- Central African Republic — 12.13% (2024)
- Chad — 23.7% (2024)
More health data for Ghana
- Population ages 00-04, female (% of female population) — 11.99% (2025)
- Population ages 00-04, male (% of male population) — 12.39% (2025)
- Population ages 0-14, female — 6.13 million (2025)
- Population ages 0-14, female (% of female population) — 34.94% (2025)
- Population ages 0-14, male — 6.29 million (2025)
- Population ages 0-14, male (% of male population) — 35.92% (2025)
- Population ages 0-14, total — 12.42 million (2025)
- Population ages 0-14 (% of total population) — 35.43% (2025)
- Population ages 05-09, female (% of female population) — 11.63% (2025)
- Population ages 05-09, male (% of male population)
Reading data like this
Questions people ask
- What is Ghana's people with basic handwashing facilities including soap and water, rural (% of rural population)?
- 31.31% in 2024, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).
- How has it changed since 2011?
- It is down 5.16 percentage points from 36.47% in 2011. The highest value was 36.47% in 2011 and the lowest 31.31% in 2024.
- How does Ghana rank?
- 46th highest of 72 economies with data for 2024.
Source
World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator SH.STA.HYGN.RU.ZS, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme (JMP) for Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene, World Health Organization (WHO), uri: washdata.org, publisher: WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme (JMP) for Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene (washdata.org), date accessed: 2025-09-30, date published: 2025-08… Figures are fetched from the World Bank API and refreshed monthly; see the series on data.worldbank.org. The full definition and method are in the World Bank's metadata glossary. Comparisons use the same World Bank release.
Want to ask your own questions of data like this? Try AnalyzeIt: upload a file or ask about public data in plain words, and every figure comes with its working.
Legal entity
Devansh Yadav
Moradabad, Uttar Pradesh
Governing law: Courts at Moradabad, Uttar Pradesh
Phone: +91 8433475698
Legal: legal@analyzeit.in