People without basic handwashing facilities in Sierra Leone

Sierra Leone: People without basic handwashing facilities was 7.02 million people in 2024. ▲ Rising

Latest (2024)
7.02 million people
Change on year
up 1.6%
World rank
45th
of 120 countries
All-time high
7.02 million people
in 2024
All-time low
4.78 million people
in 2004
Years of data
21
2004–2024

People without basic handwashing facilities in Sierra Leone, 2004–2024

02.0M4.0M6.0M8.0M2004201420242004: 4.8M people2005: 4.9M people2006: 5.0M people2007: 5.1M people2008: 5.2M people2009: 5.4M people2010: 5.5M people2011: 5.6M people2012: 5.7M people2013: 5.8M people2014: 5.9M people2015: 6.0M people2016: 6.1M people2017: 6.2M people2018: 6.3M people2019: 6.5M people2020: 6.6M people2021: 6.7M people2022: 6.8M people2023: 6.9M people2024: 7.0M people

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

Analysis

The most recent figure for people without basic handwashing facilities in Sierra Leone is 7.02 million people, measured in 2024. That is the highest value across all 21 years on record.

That represents a change of up 1.6% on the previous year and up 18.8% over ten years.

Over the whole period, people without basic handwashing facilities in Sierra Leone peaked at 7.02 million people in 2024 and was at its lowest, 4.78 million people, in 2004.

Sierra Leone ranks 45th of 120 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.

The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 21 years of available data.

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
2000s 5.07 million people 4.78 million people 5.36 million people 6
2010s 5.97 million people 5.48 million people 6.46 million people 10
2020s 6.80 million people 6.57 million people 7.02 million people 5

Countries ranked near Sierra Leone

  1. 42 Egypt 8.97 million people compare
  2. 43 Togo 7.68 million people compare
  3. 44 Algeria 7.06 million people compare
  4. 46 Papua New Guinea 6.83 million people compare
  5. 47 Uzbekistan 6.67 million people compare
  6. 48 Dominican Republic 5.88 million people compare

See the full ranking of 120 places →

More reference data data for Sierra Leone

All data for Sierra Leone →

Frequently asked questions

What is people without basic handwashing facilities in Sierra Leone?
People without basic handwashing facilities in Sierra Leone was 7.02 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 without basic handwashing facilities recorded in Sierra Leone?
The highest recorded value was 7.02 million people in 2024.
What is the lowest people without basic handwashing facilities recorded in Sierra Leone?
The lowest recorded value was 4.78 million people in 2004.
How does Sierra Leone rank for people without basic handwashing facilities?
Sierra Leone ranks 45th out of 120 countries with data for 2024.
Is people without basic handwashing facilities rising or falling in Sierra Leone?
Over the last ten years it is up 18.8%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
Where does this Sierra Leone 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 without basic handwashing facilities. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

Download this data

CSV · JSON — 21 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).

About this data

Indicator
People without basic handwashing 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
120 places, 1,792 data points, 2000–2024
Last refreshed

People without access to a handwashing facility with soap and water available at home.