Rural population without basic handwashing facilities in China

China: Rural population without basic handwashing facilities was 23.36 million people in 2024. ▼ Falling

Latest (2024)
23.36 million people
Change on year
down 3.0%
World rank
10th
of 113 countries
All-time high
28.37 million people
in 2017
All-time low
23.36 million people
in 2024
Years of data
8
2017–2024

Rural population without basic handwashing facilities in China, 2017–2024

010.0M20.0M30.0M2017202020242017: 28.4M people2018: 27.7M people2019: 27.0M people2020: 26.3M people2021: 25.5M people2022: 24.8M people2023: 24.1M people2024: 23.4M people

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

Analysis

China recorded 23.36 million people for rural population without basic handwashing facilities in 2024. That is the lowest value across all 8 years on record.

The figure is down 3.0% on the previous year and down 17.7% over ten years.

China ranks 10th of 113 countries on this measure, in the top 10%.

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
2010s 27.69 million people 27.00 million people 28.37 million people 3
2020s 24.82 million people 23.36 million people 26.28 million people 5

Countries ranked near China

  1. 7 Pakistan 30.65 million people compare
  2. 8 Uganda 29.06 million people compare
  3. 9 Indonesia 26.75 million people compare
  4. 11 Kenya 20.46 million people compare
  5. 12 Mozambique 18.94 million people compare
  6. 13 Niger 17.94 million people compare

See the full ranking of 113 places →

More reference data data for China

All data for China →

Frequently asked questions

What is rural population without basic handwashing facilities in China?
Rural population without basic handwashing facilities in China was 23.36 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 rural population without basic handwashing facilities recorded in China?
The highest recorded value was 28.37 million people in 2017.
What is the lowest rural population without basic handwashing facilities recorded in China?
The lowest recorded value was 23.36 million people in 2024.
How does China rank for rural population without basic handwashing facilities?
China ranks 10th out of 113 countries with data for 2024.
Is rural population without basic handwashing facilities rising or falling in China?
Over the last ten years it is down 17.7%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
Where does this China 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 Rural population without basic handwashing facilities. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

Download this data

CSV · JSON — 8 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).

About this data

Indicator
Rural population 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
113 places, 1,715 data points, 2000–2024
Last refreshed

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