Access to basic handwashing facilities in urban vs. rural areas in Afghanistan

Afghanistan: Access to basic handwashing facilities in urban vs. rural areas was 60.1% in 2024. ▼ Falling

Latest (2024)
60.1%
Change on year
down 0.7%
World rank
70th
of 113 countries
All-time high
66.1%
in 2005
All-time low
60.1%
in 2024
Years of data
20
2005–2024

Access to basic handwashing facilities in urban vs. rural areas in Afghanistan, 2005–2024

02040602005201420242005: 66.1 %2006: 66.1 %2007: 66.1 %2008: 66.1 %2009: 66.1 %2010: 65.7 %2011: 65.3 %2012: 64.9 %2013: 64.5 %2014: 64.1 %2015: 63.7 %2016: 63.3 %2017: 62.9 %2018: 62.5 %2019: 62.1 %2020: 61.7 %2021: 61.3 %2022: 60.9 %2023: 60.5 %2024: 60.1 %

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

Analysis

Afghanistan recorded 60.1% for access to basic handwashing facilities in urban vs. rural areas in 2024. That is the lowest value across all 20 years on record.

That represents a change of down 0.7% on the previous year and down 6.2% over ten years.

Over the whole period, access to basic handwashing facilities in urban vs. rural areas in Afghanistan peaked at 66.1% in 2005 and was at its lowest, 60.1%, in 2024.

Afghanistan ranks 70th of 113 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.

The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 20 years of available data.

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
2000s 66.1% 66.1% 66.1% 5
2010s 63.9% 62.1% 65.7% 10
2020s 60.9% 60.1% 61.7% 5

Countries ranked near Afghanistan

  1. 67 Sao Tome and Principe 62.8% compare
  2. 68 Namibia 62.4% compare
  3. 69 Djibouti 61.3% compare
  4. 71 Mauritania 57.6% compare
  5. 72 Congo 56.1% compare
  6. 73 Zimbabwe 55.7% compare

See the full ranking of 113 places →

More reference data data for Afghanistan

All data for Afghanistan →

Frequently asked questions

What is access to basic handwashing facilities in urban vs. rural areas in Afghanistan?
Access to basic handwashing facilities in urban vs. rural areas in Afghanistan was 60.1% 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 access to basic handwashing facilities in urban vs. rural areas recorded in Afghanistan?
The highest recorded value was 66.1% in 2005.
What is the lowest access to basic handwashing facilities in urban vs. rural areas recorded in Afghanistan?
The lowest recorded value was 60.1% in 2024.
How does Afghanistan rank for access to basic handwashing facilities in urban vs. rural areas?
Afghanistan ranks 70th out of 113 countries with data for 2024.
Is access to basic handwashing facilities in urban vs. rural areas rising or falling in Afghanistan?
Over the last ten years it is down 6.2%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
Where does this Afghanistan 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 Access to basic handwashing facilities in urban vs. rural areas. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

Download this data

CSV · JSON — 20 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).

About this data

Indicator
Access to basic handwashing facilities in urban vs. rural areas
Unit
%
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
113 places, 1,688 data points, 2000–2024
Last refreshed

Proportion of people with access to a handwashing facility with soap and water available at home.