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

Mauritania: Access to basic handwashing facilities in urban vs. rural areas was 57.6% in 2024. ▼ Falling

Latest (2024)
57.6%
Change on year
unchanged
World rank
71st
of 113 countries
All-time high
68.6%
in 2009
All-time low
57.6%
in 2023
Years of data
16
2009–2024

Access to basic handwashing facilities in urban vs. rural areas in Mauritania, 2009–2024

02040602009201620242009: 68.6 %2010: 68.6 %2011: 68.6 %2012: 68.6 %2013: 68.6 %2014: 67.5 %2015: 66.4 %2016: 65.3 %2017: 64.2 %2018: 63.1 %2019: 62 %2020: 60.9 %2021: 59.8 %2022: 58.7 %2023: 57.6 %2024: 57.6 %

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

Analysis

The most recent figure for access to basic handwashing facilities in urban vs. rural areas in Mauritania is 57.6%, measured in 2024. That is the lowest value across all 16 years on record.

That represents a change of down 14.7% over ten years.

Over the whole period, access to basic handwashing facilities in urban vs. rural areas in Mauritania peaked at 68.6% in 2009 and was at its lowest, 57.6%, in 2023.

Mauritania ranks 71st of 113 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.

The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 16 years of available data.

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
2000s 68.6% 68.6% 68.6% 1
2010s 66.3% 62.0% 68.6% 10
2020s 58.9% 57.6% 60.9% 5

Countries ranked near Mauritania

  1. 68 Namibia 62.4% compare
  2. 69 Djibouti 61.3% compare
  3. 70 Afghanistan 60.1% compare
  4. 72 Congo 56.1% compare
  5. 73 Zimbabwe 55.7% compare
  6. 74 Ghana 55.0% compare

See the full ranking of 113 places →

More reference data data for Mauritania

All data for Mauritania →

Frequently asked questions

What is access to basic handwashing facilities in urban vs. rural areas in Mauritania?
Access to basic handwashing facilities in urban vs. rural areas in Mauritania was 57.6% 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 Mauritania?
The highest recorded value was 68.6% in 2009.
What is the lowest access to basic handwashing facilities in urban vs. rural areas recorded in Mauritania?
The lowest recorded value was 57.6% in 2023.
How does Mauritania rank for access to basic handwashing facilities in urban vs. rural areas?
Mauritania ranks 71st out of 113 countries with data for 2024.
Is access to basic handwashing facilities in urban vs. rural areas rising or falling in Mauritania?
Over the last ten years it is down 14.7%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
Where does this Mauritania 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 — 16 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.