Share of rural population with access to basic handwashing facilities in Bhutan
Bhutan: Share of rural population with access to basic handwashing facilities was 95.7% in 2024. ▲ Rising
Share of rural population with access to basic handwashing facilities in Bhutan, 2004–2024
Source: WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene (2025) – processed by Our World in Data. Measured in %.
Analysis
In 2024, share of rural population with access to basic handwashing facilities in Bhutan stood at 95.7%. That is the highest value across all 21 years on record.
That represents a change of up 1.5% on the previous year and up 17.0% over ten years.
Over the whole period, share of rural population with access to basic handwashing facilities in Bhutan peaked at 95.7% in 2024 and was at its lowest, 73.4%, in 2004.
Bhutan ranks 13th of 113 countries on this measure, in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 21 years of available data.
Share of rural population with access to basic handwashing facilities in Bhutan, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2004 | 73.4% | — |
| 2005 | 73.4% | +0.0% |
| 2006 | 73.4% | +0.0% |
| 2007 | 73.4% | +0.0% |
| 2008 | 73.4% | +0.0% |
| 2009 | 74.8% | +1.9% |
| 2010 | 76.2% | +1.9% |
| 2011 | 77.6% | +1.8% |
| 2012 | 79.0% | +1.8% |
| 2013 | 80.4% | +1.8% |
| 2014 | 81.8% | +1.7% |
| 2015 | 83.2% | +1.7% |
| 2016 | 84.6% | +1.7% |
| 2017 | 86.0% | +1.6% |
| 2018 | 87.4% | +1.6% |
| 2019 | 88.8% | +1.6% |
| 2020 | 90.2% | +1.6% |
| 2021 | 91.5% | +1.5% |
| 2022 | 92.9% | +1.5% |
| 2023 | 94.3% | +1.5% |
| 2024 | 95.7% | +1.5% |
Bhutan compared with similar countries
- Bhutan's 95.7% is above the median for lower middle income countries, which is 32.2%, 3.0× the median. (43 countries reporting)
- Bhutan's 95.7% is above the median for South Asia, which is 86.1%, 1.1× the median. (6 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 73.7% | 73.4% | 74.8% | 6 |
| 2010s | 82.5% | 76.2% | 88.8% | 10 |
| 2020s | 92.9% | 90.2% | 95.7% | 5 |
Countries ranked near Bhutan
- 10 Saudi Arabia 96.6% compare
- 11 Tuvalu 96.3% compare
- 12 Bosnia and Herzegovina 96.0% compare
- 14 Azerbaijan 95.5% compare
- 15 Palestine 95.5% compare
- 16 China 95.3% compare
More reference data data for Bhutan
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 0.0217 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 0.0671 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 0.1192 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 0.0167 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Agricultural Soils 0.1192 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 0.0727 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure Management 0.0153 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 0.3489 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 0.5881 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 0.0909 (2050)
Frequently asked questions
- What is share of rural population with access to basic handwashing facilities in Bhutan?
- Share of rural population with access to basic handwashing facilities in Bhutan was 95.7% 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 share of rural population with access to basic handwashing facilities recorded in Bhutan?
- The highest recorded value was 95.7% in 2024.
- What is the lowest share of rural population with access to basic handwashing facilities recorded in Bhutan?
- The lowest recorded value was 73.4% in 2004.
- How does Bhutan rank for share of rural population with access to basic handwashing facilities?
- Bhutan ranks 13th out of 113 countries with data for 2024.
- Is share of rural population with access to basic handwashing facilities rising or falling in Bhutan?
- Over the last ten years it is up 17.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Bhutan 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 Share of rural population with access to basic handwashing facilities. 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
Proportion of people with access to a handwashing facility with soap and water available at home.