Lesotho's people with basic handwashing facilities including soap and water (% of population) was 20.85% in 2024, the latest year in the World Bank's World Development Indicators. That is up 19.14 percentage points from 1.71% in 2014.
Key figures
| Value | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| Latest | 20.85% | 2024 |
| Five years earlier | 11.23% | 2019 |
| Ten years earlier | 1.71% | 2014 |
| Highest | 20.85% | 2024 |
| Lowest | 0.37% | 2008 |
| Average since 2015 | 12.2% | 2015–2024 |
| First recorded | 0.37% | 2008 |
What the numbers say
In 2024, Lesotho's people with basic handwashing facilities including soap and water (% of population) rose 1.94 percentage points on 2023 (from 18.92% to 20.85%).
Across the 15 yearly changes before that (2009 to 2023), the average change was +1.24 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 0.88 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.8 standard deviations above that average, so it was an ordinary year: it sits within the range of normal year-to-year movement.
On record, the biggest yearly rise was 1.94 percentage points in 2024. 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 upward, about 1.92 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.
A straight-line projection, tested first
Extending that straight line gives about 26.26% for 2027. We show this only because the same method, fitted on earlier years, predicted 2022 to 2024 better than "no change" would have: its average miss was 1.59%, against 3.86% for assuming no change. Treat it as a continuation of the recent pattern, not a forecast of events: it cannot see a recession, a policy change or a revision to the data.
See how a linear trend forecast works and the guide on forecasting without fooling yourself.
How it compares
In 2024, Lesotho had the 64th highest value of the 75 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 | |
|---|---|---|
| Lesotho | 20.85% | 2024 |
| Sub-Saharan Africa | 25% | 2024 |
| Lower middle income | 75.25% | 2024 |
Closest to Lesotho in the 2024 ranking
- Central African Republic — 60th of 75: 22.41%
- Côte d'Ivoire — 61st of 75: 22.01%
- Niger — 62nd of 75: 21.53%
- Guinea-Bissau — 64th of 75: 19.76%
- Sierra Leone — 65th of 75: 18.74%
- Rwanda — 66th of 75: 18.45%
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 17 values
| Year | People with basic handwashing facilities including soap and water (% of population) |
|---|---|
| 2024 | 20.85 |
| 2023 | 18.92 |
| 2022 | 16.99 |
| 2021 | 15.06 |
| 2020 | 13.14 |
| 2019 | 11.23 |
| 2018 | 9.31 |
| 2017 | 7.41 |
| 2016 | 5.51 |
| 2015 | 3.61 |
People with basic handwashing facilities including soap and water (% of population) in nearby economies
- Angola — 36.94% (2024)
- Benin — 12.86% (2024)
- Burkina Faso — 25.88% (2024)
- Burundi — 6.36% (2023)
- Cameroon — 37.8% (2024)
- Central African Republic — 22.41% (2024)
- Chad — 26.27% (2024)
- Comoros
More health data for Lesotho
- Population ages 00-04, female (% of female population) — 10.7% (2025)
- Population ages 00-04, male (% of male population) — 11.44% (2025)
- Population ages 0-14, female — 400,450 (2025)
- Population ages 0-14, female (% of female population) — 33.06% (2025)
- Population ages 0-14, male — 405,493 (2025)
- Population ages 0-14, male (% of male population) — 35.19% (2025)
- Population ages 0-14, total — 805,943 (2025)
- Population ages 0-14 (% of total population) — 34.1% (2025)
- Population ages 05-09, female (% of female population) — 11.21% (2025)
Reading data like this
Questions people ask
- What is Lesotho's people with basic handwashing facilities including soap and water (% of population)?
- 20.85% in 2024, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).
Source
World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator SH.STA.HYGN.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.
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