São Tomé and Principe's people with basic handwashing facilities including soap and water, urban (% of urban population) was 62.84% in 2024, the latest year in the World Bank's World Development Indicators. That is up 23.65 percentage points from 39.2% in 2014.
Key figures
| Value | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| Latest | 62.84% | 2024 |
| Five years earlier | 56.09% | 2019 |
| Ten years earlier | 39.2% | 2014 |
| Highest | 62.84% | 2021 |
| Lowest | 32.44% | 2008 |
| Average since 2015 | 55.75% | 2015–2024 |
| First recorded | 32.44% | 2008 |
What the numbers say
In 2024, São Tomé and Principe's people with basic handwashing facilities including soap and water, urban (% of urban population) did not change 0 percentage points on 2023 (from 62.84% to 62.84%).
Across the 15 yearly changes before that (2009 to 2023), the average change was +2.03 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 1.71 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 1.2 standard deviations below that average, so it was larger than a typical year, though not out of the range seen before.
On record, the biggest yearly rise was 3.38 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 upward, about 2.44 percentage points a year. A straight line explains 91% 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, São Tomé and Principe had the 40th highest value of the 71 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 | |
|---|---|---|
| São Tomé and Principe | 62.84% | 2024 |
| Sub-Saharan Africa | 36.31% | 2024 |
| Lower middle income | 77.98% | 2024 |
Closest to São Tomé and Principe in the 2024 ranking
- Vanuatu — 37th of 71: 65.87%
- Kiribati — 38th of 71: 64.75%
- Papua New Guinea — 39th of 71: 64.35%
- Afghanistan — 41st of 71: 60.12%
- Mauritania — 42nd of 71: 57.57%
- Zimbabwe — 43rd of 71: 55.71%
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, urban (% of urban population) |
|---|---|
| 2024 | 62.84 |
| 2023 | 62.84 |
| 2022 | 62.84 |
| 2021 | 62.84 |
| 2020 | 59.46 |
| 2019 | 56.09 |
| 2018 | 52.71 |
| 2017 | 49.33 |
| 2016 | 45.95 |
| 2015 | 42.57 |
People with basic handwashing facilities including soap and water, urban (% of urban population) in nearby economies
- Angola — 44.82% (2024)
- Benin — 15.8% (2024)
- Burkina Faso — 35.49% (2024)
- Burundi — 19.39% (2023)
- Cameroon — 43.91% (2024)
- Central African Republic — 35.43% (2024)
- Chad — 34.08% (2024)
More health data for São Tomé and Principe
- Population ages 00-04, female (% of female population) — 12.94% (2025)
- Population ages 00-04, male (% of male population) — 13.44% (2025)
- Population ages 0-14, female — 44,650 (2025)
- Population ages 0-14, female (% of female population) — 36.94% (2025)
- Population ages 0-14, male — 45,338 (2025)
- Population ages 0-14, male (% of male population) — 37.98% (2025)
- Population ages 0-14, total — 89,988 (2025)
- Population ages 0-14 (% of total population) — 37.46% (2025)
- Population ages 05-09, female (% of female population)
Reading data like this
Questions people ask
- What is São Tomé and Principe's people with basic handwashing facilities including soap and water, urban (% of urban population)?
- 62.84% in 2024, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).
- How has it changed since 2008?
- It is up 30.4 percentage points from 32.44% in 2008. The highest value was 62.84% in 2021 and the lowest 32.44% in 2008.
- How does São Tomé and Principe rank?
- 40th highest of 71 economies with data for 2024.
Source
World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator SH.STA.HYGN.UR.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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