Access to basic handwashing facilities in urban vs. rural areas in Sierra Leone

Sierra Leone: Access to basic handwashing facilities in urban vs. rural areas was 21.2% in 2024. ▲ Rising

Latest (2024)
21.2%
Change on year
up 0.3%
World rank
108th
of 113 countries
All-time high
21.2%
in 2024
All-time low
20.2%
in 2004
Years of data
21
2004–2024

Access to basic handwashing facilities in urban vs. rural areas in Sierra Leone, 2004–2024

051015202004201420242004: 20.2 %2005: 20.2 %2006: 20.2 %2007: 20.2 %2008: 20.2 %2009: 20.3 %2010: 20.4 %2011: 20.4 %2012: 20.5 %2013: 20.5 %2014: 20.6 %2015: 20.7 %2016: 20.7 %2017: 20.8 %2018: 20.9 %2019: 20.9 %2020: 21 %2021: 21 %2022: 21.1 %2023: 21.2 %2024: 21.2 %

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

Analysis

Sierra Leone recorded 21.2% for access to basic handwashing facilities in urban vs. rural areas in 2024. That is the highest value across all 21 years on record.

That represents a change of up 0.3% on the previous year and up 2.9% over ten years.

Over the whole period, access to basic handwashing facilities in urban vs. rural areas in Sierra Leone peaked at 21.2% in 2024 and was at its lowest, 20.2%, in 2004.

That places Sierra Leone 108th out of 113 countries with data for 2024, putting it in the bottom quarter.

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

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
2000s 20.3% 20.2% 20.3% 6
2010s 20.6% 20.4% 20.9% 10
2020s 21.1% 21.0% 21.2% 5

Countries ranked near Sierra Leone

  1. 105 Guinea-Bissau 24.5% compare
  2. 106 Somalia 22.2% compare
  3. 107 Tanzania 21.8% compare
  4. 109 Burundi 19.4% compare
  5. 110 Benin 15.8% compare
  6. 111 Ethiopia 14.0% compare

See the full ranking of 113 places →

More reference data data for Sierra Leone

All data for Sierra Leone →

Frequently asked questions

What is access to basic handwashing facilities in urban vs. rural areas in Sierra Leone?
Access to basic handwashing facilities in urban vs. rural areas in Sierra Leone was 21.2% 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 Sierra Leone?
The highest recorded value was 21.2% in 2024.
What is the lowest access to basic handwashing facilities in urban vs. rural areas recorded in Sierra Leone?
The lowest recorded value was 20.2% in 2004.
How does Sierra Leone rank for access to basic handwashing facilities in urban vs. rural areas?
Sierra Leone ranks 108th out of 113 countries with data for 2024.
Is access to basic handwashing facilities in urban vs. rural areas rising or falling in Sierra Leone?
Over the last ten years it is up 2.9%. 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 Access to basic handwashing facilities in urban vs. rural areas. 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
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.