Share of rural population with access to basic handwashing facilities in Sierra Leone

Sierra Leone: Share of rural population with access to basic handwashing facilities was 16.7% in 2024. ▲ Rising

Latest (2024)
16.7%
Change on year
up 4.5%
World rank
92nd
of 113 countries
All-time high
16.7%
in 2024
All-time low
5.2%
in 2004
Years of data
21
2004–2024

Share of rural population with access to basic handwashing facilities in Sierra Leone, 2004–2024

57.51012.51517.52004201420242004: 5.2 %2005: 5.2 %2006: 5.2 %2007: 5.2 %2008: 5.2 %2009: 5.9 %2010: 6.7 %2011: 7.4 %2012: 8.1 %2013: 8.8 %2014: 9.5 %2015: 10.3 %2016: 11 %2017: 11.7 %2018: 12.4 %2019: 13.1 %2020: 13.9 %2021: 14.6 %2022: 15.3 %2023: 16 %2024: 16.7 %

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 Sierra Leone stood at 16.7%. That is the highest value across all 21 years on record.

Compared with earlier readings it is up 4.5% on the previous year and up 75.4% over ten years.

Over the whole period, share of rural population with access to basic handwashing facilities in Sierra Leone peaked at 16.7% in 2024 and was at its lowest, 5.2%, in 2004.

Sierra Leone ranks 92nd of 113 countries on this measure, in the bottom quarter.

The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 21 years of available data.

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
2000s 5.3% 5.2% 5.9% 6
2010s 9.9% 6.7% 13.1% 10
2020s 15.3% 13.9% 16.7% 5

Countries ranked near Sierra Leone

  1. 89 South Sudan 18.4% compare
  2. 90 Lesotho 17.7% compare
  3. 91 Mauritania 17.0% compare
  4. 93 Rwanda 16.0% compare
  5. 94 Guinea-Bissau 15.7% compare
  6. 95 Haiti 15.5% compare

See the full ranking of 113 places →

More reference data data for Sierra Leone

All data for Sierra Leone →

Frequently asked questions

What is share of rural population with access to basic handwashing facilities in Sierra Leone?
Share of rural population with access to basic handwashing facilities in Sierra Leone was 16.7% 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 Sierra Leone?
The highest recorded value was 16.7% in 2024.
What is the lowest share of rural population with access to basic handwashing facilities recorded in Sierra Leone?
The lowest recorded value was 5.2% in 2004.
How does Sierra Leone rank for share of rural population with access to basic handwashing facilities?
Sierra Leone ranks 92nd out of 113 countries with data for 2024.
Is share of rural population with access to basic handwashing facilities rising or falling in Sierra Leone?
Over the last ten years it is up 75.4%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
Where does this Sierra Leone 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

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About this data

Indicator
Share of rural population with access to basic handwashing facilities
Unit
%
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

Proportion of people with access to a handwashing facility with soap and water available at home.