Rural population without basic handwashing facilities in Costa Rica

Costa Rica: Rural population without basic handwashing facilities was 144,152 people in 2024. ▼ Falling

Latest (2024)
144,152 people
Change on year
down 2.7%
World rank
86th
of 113 countries
All-time high
251,073 people
in 2005
All-time low
144,152 people
in 2024
Years of data
20
2005–2024

Rural population without basic handwashing facilities in Costa Rica, 2005–2024

0100.0k200.0k300.0k2005201420242005: 251.1k people2006: 245.2k people2007: 239.3k people2008: 233.3k people2009: 227.3k people2010: 220.5k people2011: 213.6k people2012: 207.0k people2013: 200.6k people2014: 194.4k people2015: 188.5k people2016: 182.8k people2017: 177.2k people2018: 171.9k people2019: 166.7k people2020: 161.6k people2021: 156.9k people2022: 152.3k people2023: 148.1k people2024: 144.2k 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 rural population without basic handwashing facilities in Costa Rica is 144,152 people, measured in 2024. That is the lowest value across all 20 years on record.

That represents a change of down 2.7% on the previous year and down 25.8% over ten years.

Over the whole period, rural population without basic handwashing facilities in Costa Rica peaked at 251,073 people in 2005 and was at its lowest, 144,152 people, in 2024.

Costa Rica ranks 86th of 113 countries on this measure, in the bottom quarter.

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

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
2000s 239,226 people 227,261 people 251,073 people 5
2010s 192,309 people 166,713 people 220,468 people 10
2020s 152,622 people 144,152 people 161,602 people 5

Countries ranked near Costa Rica

  1. 83 El Salvador 182,550 people compare
  2. 84 Saudi Arabia 172,927 people compare
  3. 85 Gabon 150,886 people compare
  4. 87 Vanuatu 139,859 people compare
  5. 88 Trinidad and Tobago 122,181 people compare
  6. 89 Kyrgyzstan 120,315 people compare

See the full ranking of 113 places →

More reference data data for Costa Rica

All data for Costa Rica →

Frequently asked questions

What is rural population without basic handwashing facilities in Costa Rica?
Rural population without basic handwashing facilities in Costa Rica was 144,152 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 Costa Rica?
The highest recorded value was 251,073 people in 2005.
What is the lowest rural population without basic handwashing facilities recorded in Costa Rica?
The lowest recorded value was 144,152 people in 2024.
How does Costa Rica rank for rural population without basic handwashing facilities?
Costa Rica ranks 86th out of 113 countries with data for 2024.
Is rural population without basic handwashing facilities rising or falling in Costa Rica?
Over the last ten years it is down 25.8%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
Where does this Costa Rica 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 — 20 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.