People using at least basic sanitation facilities in South Korea

South Korea: People using at least basic sanitation facilities was 51.58 million people in 2024. ▲ Rising

Latest (2024)
51.58 million people
Change on year
down 0.1%
World rank
22nd
of 232 countries
All-time high
51.75 million people
in 2020
All-time low
46.77 million people
in 2000
Years of data
25
2000–2024

People using at least basic sanitation facilities in South Korea, 2000–2024

020.0M40.0M60.0M2000201220242000: 46.8M people2001: 47.0M people2002: 47.3M people2003: 47.5M people2004: 47.7M people2005: 47.9M people2006: 48.0M people2007: 48.2M people2008: 48.4M people2009: 48.5M people2010: 48.7M people2011: 49.1M people2012: 49.6M people2013: 50.0M people2014: 50.5M people2015: 50.9M people2016: 51.2M people2017: 51.4M people2018: 51.6M people2019: 51.7M people2020: 51.8M people2021: 51.7M people2022: 51.7M people2023: 51.6M people2024: 51.6M people

Source: WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene (2025) – processed by Our World in Data. Measured in people.

Analysis

South Korea recorded 51.58 million people for people using at least basic sanitation facilities in 2024.

That represents a change of down 0.1% on the previous year and up 2.2% over ten years.

Over the whole period, people using at least basic sanitation facilities in South Korea peaked at 51.75 million people in 2020 and was at its lowest, 46.77 million people, in 2000.

That places South Korea 22nd out of 232 countries with data for 2024, putting it in the top 10%.

The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 25 years of available data.

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
2000s 47.72 million people 46.77 million people 48.53 million people 10
2010s 50.47 million people 48.75 million people 51.67 million people 10
2020s 51.67 million people 51.58 million people 51.75 million people 5

Countries ranked near South Korea

  1. 19 United Kingdom 68.52 million people compare
  2. 20 France 65.65 million people compare
  3. 21 Italy 59.27 million people compare
  4. 23 Colombia 51.08 million people compare
  5. 24 South Africa 49.53 million people compare
  6. 25 Spain 47.87 million people compare

See the full ranking of 232 places →

More reference data data for South Korea

All data for South Korea →

Frequently asked questions

What is people using at least basic sanitation facilities in South Korea?
People using at least basic sanitation facilities in South Korea was 51.58 million people in 2024, according to WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene (2025) – processed by Our World in Data.
What is the highest people using at least basic sanitation facilities recorded in South Korea?
The highest recorded value was 51.75 million people in 2020.
What is the lowest people using at least basic sanitation facilities recorded in South Korea?
The lowest recorded value was 46.77 million people in 2000.
How does South Korea rank for people using at least basic sanitation facilities?
South Korea ranks 22nd out of 232 countries with data for 2024.
Is people using at least basic sanitation facilities rising or falling in South Korea?
Over the last ten years it is up 2.2%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
Where does this South Korea data come from?
The figures come from WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene (2025) – processed by Our World in Data, published as part of People using at least basic sanitation facilities. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

Download this data

CSV · JSON — 25 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).

About this data

Indicator
People using at least basic sanitation facilities
Unit
people
Source
WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene (2025) – processed by Our World in Data
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
232 places, 5,597 data points, 2000–2024
Last refreshed

Number of people using improved sanitation facilities that are not shared with other households.