Zambia's people with basic handwashing facilities including soap and water, rural (% of rural population) was 9.23% in 2024, the latest year in the World Bank's World Development Indicators. That is unchanged since 2014.
Key figures
| Value | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| Latest | 9.23% | 2024 |
| Five years earlier | 9.23% | 2019 |
| Ten years earlier | 9.23% | 2014 |
| Highest | 9.23% | 2008 |
| Lowest | 9.23% | 2008 |
| Average since 2015 | 9.23% | 2015–2024 |
| First recorded | 9.23% | 2008 |
What the numbers say
From 2015 to 2024 there is no clear straight-line trend: a straight line explains less than 1% of the movement over 10 observed years, so the value is moving around more than it is heading anywhere.
Worked out from the yearly values above. How the checks work: standard deviation, z-scores and straight-line trends.
How it compares
In 2024, Zambia had the 71st 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 | |
|---|---|---|
| Zambia | 9.23% | 2024 |
| Sub-Saharan Africa | 18.06% | 2024 |
| Lower middle income | 73.42% | 2024 |
Closest to Zambia in the 2024 ranking
- Côte d'Ivoire — 67th of 72: 11.14%
- Mozambique — 68th of 72: 9.88%
- Benin — 69th of 72: 9.84%
- Ethiopia — 71st of 72: 3.31%
- Liberia — 72nd of 72: 0.96%
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, rural (% of rural population) |
|---|---|
| 2024 | 9.23 |
| 2023 | 9.23 |
| 2022 | 9.23 |
| 2021 | 9.23 |
| 2020 | 9.23 |
| 2019 | 9.23 |
| 2018 | 9.23 |
| 2017 | 9.23 |
| 2016 | 9.23 |
| 2015 | 9.23 |
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 Zambia
- Population ages 00-04, female (% of female population) — 14.71% (2025)
- Population ages 00-04, male (% of male population) — 15.03% (2025)
- Population ages 0-14, female — 4.49 million (2025)
- Population ages 0-14, female (% of female population) — 40.57% (2025)
- Population ages 0-14, male — 4.49 million (2025)
- Population ages 0-14, male (% of male population) — 41.38% (2025)
- Population ages 0-14, total — 8.98 million (2025)
- Population ages 0-14 (% of total population) — 40.97% (2025)
- Population ages 05-09, female (% of female population) — 13.41% (2025)
Reading data like this
Questions people ask
- What is Zambia's people with basic handwashing facilities including soap and water, rural (% of rural population)?
- 9.23% in 2024, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).
- How has it changed since 2008?
- It is unchanged since 2008. The highest value was 9.23% in 2008 and the lowest 9.23% in 2008.
- How does Zambia rank?
- 71st highest of 72 economies with data for 2024.
- Where does this data come from?
- The World Bank's World Development Indicators, 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….
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.
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