Sanitation facilities usage in rural areas in Democratic Republic of Congo

Democratic Republic of Congo: Sanitation facilities usage in rural areas was 10.70 million people in 2024. ▲ Rising

Latest (2024)
10.70 million people
Change on year
up 2.1%
World rank
7th
of 175 countries
All-time high
10.70 million people
in 2024
All-time low
4.82 million people
in 2000
Years of data
25
2000–2024

Sanitation facilities usage in rural areas in Democratic Republic of Congo, 2000–2024

02.5M5.0M7.5M10.0M2000201220242000: 4.8M people2001: 5.0M people2002: 5.2M people2003: 5.4M people2004: 5.6M people2005: 5.8M people2006: 6.0M people2007: 6.2M people2008: 6.4M people2009: 6.7M people2010: 6.9M people2011: 7.2M people2012: 7.4M people2013: 7.7M people2014: 8.0M people2015: 8.3M people2016: 8.6M people2017: 8.9M people2018: 9.2M people2019: 9.5M people2020: 9.8M people2021: 10.0M people2022: 10.3M people2023: 10.5M people2024: 10.7M people

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

Analysis

In 2024, sanitation facilities usage in rural areas in Democratic Republic of Congo stood at 10.70 million people. That is the highest value across all 25 years on record.

That represents a change of up 2.1% on the previous year and up 34.0% over ten years.

Over the whole period, sanitation facilities usage in rural areas in Democratic Republic of Congo peaked at 10.70 million people in 2024 and was at its lowest, 4.82 million people, in 2000.

Democratic Republic of Congo ranks 7th of 175 countries on this measure, in the top 10%.

The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 25 years of available data.

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
2000s 5.71 million people 4.82 million people 6.66 million people 10
2010s 8.17 million people 6.90 million people 9.52 million people 10
2020s 10.26 million people 9.83 million people 10.70 million people 5

Countries ranked near Democratic Republic of Congo

  1. 4 Pakistan 20.07 million people compare
  2. 5 Niger 17.47 million people compare
  3. 6 Chad 11.86 million people compare
  4. 8 Sudan 7.70 million people compare
  5. 9 Angola 7.45 million people compare
  6. 10 South Sudan 7.06 million people compare

See the full ranking of 175 places →

More reference data data for Democratic Republic of Congo

All data for Democratic Republic of Congo →

Frequently asked questions

What is sanitation facilities usage in rural areas in Democratic Republic of Congo?
Sanitation facilities usage in rural areas in Democratic Republic of Congo was 10.70 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 sanitation facilities usage in rural areas recorded in Democratic Republic of Congo?
The highest recorded value was 10.70 million people in 2024.
What is the lowest sanitation facilities usage in rural areas recorded in Democratic Republic of Congo?
The lowest recorded value was 4.82 million people in 2000.
How does Democratic Republic of Congo rank for sanitation facilities usage in rural areas?
Democratic Republic of Congo ranks 7th out of 175 countries with data for 2024.
Is sanitation facilities usage in rural areas rising or falling in Democratic Republic of Congo?
Over the last ten years it is up 34.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
Where does this Democratic Republic of Congo 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 Sanitation facilities usage in rural areas. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

Download this data

CSV · JSON — 25 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).

About this data

Indicator
Sanitation facilities usage in rural areas
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
175 places, 4,232 data points, 2000–2024
Last refreshed

Open defecation includes defecating in fields, forests, bushes, bodies of water or other open spaces, not using any sanitation facilities.