People practicing open defecation in East Asia & Pacific (excluding high income)
East Asia & Pacific (excluding high income): People practicing open defecation was 0.8% in 2024. ◆ Volatile
People practicing open defecation in East Asia & Pacific (excluding high income), 2000–2024
Source: WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme (JMP) for Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene, World Health Organization (WHO). Measured in % of population.
Analysis
East Asia & Pacific (excluding high income) recorded 0.8% for people practicing open defecation in 2024. That is the lowest value across all 25 years on record.
That represents a change of down 18.0% on the previous year and down 76.9% over ten years.
Over the whole period, people practicing open defecation in East Asia & Pacific (excluding high income) peaked at 8.1% in 2000 and was at its lowest, 0.8%, in 2024.
That places East Asia & Pacific (excluding high income) 29th out of 47 groups with data for 2024, putting it in the middle of the range.
The series is highly variable year to year, so single readings are best treated with caution.
People practicing open defecation in East Asia & Pacific (excluding high income), year by year
| Year | % of population | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 8.1% | — |
| 2001 | 7.8% | -3.2% |
| 2002 | 7.4% | -5.6% |
| 2003 | 7.0% | -4.8% |
| 2004 | 6.7% | -5.0% |
| 2005 | 6.3% | -5.1% |
| 2006 | 6.0% | -5.3% |
| 2007 | 5.7% | -5.5% |
| 2008 | 5.3% | -5.7% |
| 2009 | 5.0% | -6.0% |
| 2010 | 4.7% | -6.4% |
| 2011 | 4.4% | -6.7% |
| 2012 | 4.1% | -7.1% |
| 2013 | 3.8% | -7.5% |
| 2014 | 3.5% | -8.0% |
| 2015 | 3.2% | -8.6% |
| 2016 | 2.9% | -9.3% |
| 2017 | 2.6% | -9.0% |
| 2018 | 2.3% | -11.1% |
| 2019 | 2.0% | -12.3% |
| 2020 | 1.8% | -13.8% |
| 2021 | 1.5% | -15.5% |
| 2022 | 1.2% | -16.4% |
| 2023 | 1.0% | -21.1% |
| 2024 | 0.8% | -18.0% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 6.5% | 5.0% | 8.1% | 10 |
| 2010s | 3.3% | 2.0% | 4.7% | 10 |
| 2020s | 1.2% | 0.8% | 1.8% | 5 |
Countries ranked near East Asia & Pacific (excluding high income)
- 26 Sierra Leone 15.3% compare
- 27 Lesotho 14.8% compare
- 28 Somalia 14.4% compare
- 29 Zimbabwe 12.6% compare
- 30 Congo, Democratic Republic of the 11.7% compare
- 31 Afghanistan 11.2% compare
- 32 Micronesia, Federated States of 9.5% compare
More health data for East Asia & Pacific (excluding high income)
- Population ages 35-39, female, annual growth rate 2.31 % change on previous year (2025)
- Population ages 40-44, female, per capita 0.0353 units per person (2025)
- Population ages 40-44, female, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Population ages 40-44, female, annual growth rate 1.78 % change on previous year (2025)
- Population ages 35-39, male, per capita 0.0424 units per person (2025)
- Population ages 35-39, male, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Population ages 35-39, male, annual growth rate 2.76 % change on previous year (2025)
- Population ages 35-39, female, per capita 0.0396 units per person (2025)
- Population ages 35-39, female, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Population ages 25-29, male, per capita 0.0341 units per person (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is people practicing open defecation in East Asia & Pacific (excluding high income)?
- People practicing open defecation in East Asia & Pacific (excluding high income) was 0.8% in 2024, according to WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme (JMP) for Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene, World Health Organization (WHO).
- What is the highest people practicing open defecation recorded in East Asia & Pacific (excluding high income)?
- The highest recorded value was 8.1% in 2000.
- What is the lowest people practicing open defecation recorded in East Asia & Pacific (excluding high income)?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.8% in 2024.
- How does East Asia & Pacific (excluding high income) rank for people practicing open defecation?
- East Asia & Pacific (excluding high income) ranks 29th out of 47 groups with data for 2024.
- Is people practicing open defecation rising or falling in East Asia & Pacific (excluding high income)?
- Over the last ten years it is down 76.9%. The long-run trend across the full record is volatile.
- Where does this East Asia & Pacific (excluding high income) data come from?
- The figures come from WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme (JMP) for Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene, World Health Organization (WHO), published as part of People practicing open defecation (% of population). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 25 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).
About this data
People practicing open defecation refers to the percentage of the population defecating in the open, such as in fields, forest, bushes, open bodies of water, on beaches, in other open spaces or disposed of with solid waste.