People practicing open defecation, rural (% of rural population) in Europe & Central Asia (excluding high income)
Europe & Central Asia (excluding high income): People practicing open defecation, rural (% of rural population) was 0.1% in 2024. ▼ Falling
People practicing open defecation, rural in Europe & Central Asia (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 rural population.
Analysis
Europe & Central Asia (excluding high income) recorded 0.1% for people practicing open defecation, rural in 2024. That is the lowest value across all 25 years on record.
That represents a change of down 27.2% on the previous year and down 53.8% over ten years.
Over the whole period, people practicing open defecation, rural in Europe & Central Asia (excluding high income) peaked at 0.6% in 2000 and was at its lowest, 0.1%, in 2024.
That places Europe & Central Asia (excluding high income) 39th out of 47 groups with data for 2024, putting it in the bottom quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 25 years of available data.
People practicing open defecation, rural (% of rural population) in Europe & Central Asia (excluding high income), year by year
| Year | % of rural population | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 0.6% | — |
| 2001 | 0.6% | -1.7% |
| 2002 | 0.6% | -3.9% |
| 2003 | 0.6% | -4.0% |
| 2004 | 0.6% | -4.3% |
| 2005 | 0.5% | -4.6% |
| 2006 | 0.5% | -5.0% |
| 2007 | 0.5% | -5.6% |
| 2008 | 0.5% | -5.7% |
| 2009 | 0.4% | -6.2% |
| 2010 | 0.4% | -6.0% |
| 2011 | 0.4% | -6.1% |
| 2012 | 0.3% | -7.9% |
| 2013 | 0.3% | -11.5% |
| 2014 | 0.3% | -13.7% |
| 2015 | 0.2% | -12.7% |
| 2016 | 0.2% | -7.4% |
| 2017 | 0.2% | -5.3% |
| 2018 | 0.2% | -6.2% |
| 2019 | 0.2% | -3.7% |
| 2020 | 0.2% | -8.5% |
| 2021 | 0.2% | -1.7% |
| 2022 | 0.2% | +0.6% |
| 2023 | 0.2% | +1.3% |
| 2024 | 0.1% | -27.2% |
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where People practicing open defecation, rural (% of rural population) in Europe & Central Asia (excluding high income) changed far more than this series normally does. A large move can be a real event or a change in how the figure was measured — the source note below says who published it.
| Year | Change | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | -27.2% | 0.2% | 0.1% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 0.5% | 0.4% | 0.6% | 10 |
| 2010s | 0.3% | 0.2% | 0.4% | 10 |
| 2020s | 0.2% | 0.1% | 0.2% | 5 |
Countries ranked near Europe & Central Asia (excluding high income)
More health data for Europe & Central Asia (excluding high income)
- Population ages 30-34, female, per capita 0.0369 units per person (2025)
- Population ages 35-39, male, annual growth rate 1.07 % change on previous year (2025)
- Population ages 35-39, female, per capita 0.0384 units per person (2025)
- Population ages 35-39, female, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Population ages 35-39, female, annual growth rate 1.06 % change on previous year (2025)
- Population ages 30-34, male, per capita 0.0378 units per person (2025)
- Population ages 30-34, male, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Population ages 30-34, male, annual growth rate -0.3872 % change on previous year (2025)
- Population ages 25-29, female, per capita 0.0342 units per person (2025)
- Population ages 25-29, male, annual growth rate -0.3563 % change on previous year (2025)
All data for Europe & Central Asia (excluding high income) →
Frequently asked questions
- What is people practicing open defecation, rural in Europe & Central Asia (excluding high income)?
- People practicing open defecation, rural in Europe & Central Asia (excluding high income) was 0.1% 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, rural recorded in Europe & Central Asia (excluding high income)?
- The highest recorded value was 0.6% in 2000.
- What is the lowest people practicing open defecation, rural recorded in Europe & Central Asia (excluding high income)?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.1% in 2024.
- How does Europe & Central Asia (excluding high income) rank for people practicing open defecation, rural?
- Europe & Central Asia (excluding high income) ranks 39th out of 47 groups with data for 2024.
- Is people practicing open defecation, rural rising or falling in Europe & Central Asia (excluding high income)?
- Over the last ten years it is down 53.8%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Europe & Central Asia (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, rural (% of rural 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.