Rural population without basic handwashing facilities in Nepal

Nepal: Rural population without basic handwashing facilities was 7.88 million people in 2024. ▼ Falling

Latest (2024)
7.88 million people
Change on year
down 5.3%
World rank
32nd
of 113 countries
All-time high
13.41 million people
in 2009
All-time low
7.88 million people
in 2024
Years of data
20
2005–2024

Rural population without basic handwashing facilities in Nepal, 2005–2024

05.0M10.0M15.0M2005201420242005: 13.2M people2006: 13.3M people2007: 13.3M people2008: 13.4M people2009: 13.4M people2010: 13.1M people2011: 12.7M people2012: 12.3M people2013: 11.9M people2014: 11.5M people2015: 11.1M people2016: 10.8M people2017: 10.4M people2018: 10.0M people2019: 9.6M people2020: 9.4M people2021: 9.1M people2022: 8.8M people2023: 8.3M people2024: 7.9M 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 Nepal is 7.88 million people, measured in 2024. That is the lowest value across all 20 years on record.

The figure is down 5.3% on the previous year and down 31.5% over ten years.

Over the whole period, rural population without basic handwashing facilities in Nepal peaked at 13.41 million people in 2009 and was at its lowest, 7.88 million people, in 2024.

Nepal ranks 32nd 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 13.31 million people 13.19 million people 13.41 million people 5
2010s 11.33 million people 9.65 million people 13.07 million people 10
2020s 8.70 million people 7.88 million people 9.40 million people 5

Countries ranked near Nepal

  1. 29 Vietnam 9.14 million people compare
  2. 30 Somalia 8.70 million people compare
  3. 31 Cameroon 8.33 million people compare
  4. 33 South Sudan 7.64 million people compare
  5. 34 Guinea 7.62 million people compare
  6. 35 Senegal 7.34 million people compare

See the full ranking of 113 places →

More reference data data for Nepal

All data for Nepal →

Frequently asked questions

What is rural population without basic handwashing facilities in Nepal?
Rural population without basic handwashing facilities in Nepal was 7.88 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 Nepal?
The highest recorded value was 13.41 million people in 2009.
What is the lowest rural population without basic handwashing facilities recorded in Nepal?
The lowest recorded value was 7.88 million people in 2024.
How does Nepal rank for rural population without basic handwashing facilities?
Nepal ranks 32nd out of 113 countries with data for 2024.
Is rural population without basic handwashing facilities rising or falling in Nepal?
Over the last ten years it is down 31.5%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
Where does this Nepal 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.