People practicing open defecation, urban in World
World: People practicing open defecation, urban was 0.7% in 2024. ▼ Falling
People practicing open defecation, urban in World, 2000–2024
Source: WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme (JMP) for Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene, World Health Organization (WHO). Measured in % of urban population.
Analysis
World recorded 0.7% for people practicing open defecation, urban in 2024. That is the lowest value across all 25 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is down 10.8% on the previous year and down 72.6% over ten years.
Over the whole period, people practicing open defecation, urban in World peaked at 5.1% in 2000 and was at its lowest, 0.7%, in 2024.
That places World 19th out of 47 groups with data for 2024, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 25 years of available data.
People practicing open defecation, urban in World, year by year
| Year | % of urban population | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 5.1% | — |
| 2001 | 5.0% | -3.6% |
| 2002 | 4.6% | -7.5% |
| 2003 | 4.4% | -3.4% |
| 2004 | 4.3% | -3.6% |
| 2005 | 4.1% | -3.8% |
| 2006 | 3.9% | -4.1% |
| 2007 | 3.8% | -4.4% |
| 2008 | 3.6% | -4.5% |
| 2009 | 3.4% | -4.8% |
| 2010 | 3.3% | -4.9% |
| 2011 | 3.1% | -5.3% |
| 2012 | 2.9% | -6.0% |
| 2013 | 2.7% | -6.5% |
| 2014 | 2.5% | -6.9% |
| 2015 | 2.3% | -7.6% |
| 2016 | 2.1% | -8.2% |
| 2017 | 1.9% | -9.3% |
| 2018 | 1.7% | -9.9% |
| 2019 | 1.6% | -10.8% |
| 2020 | 1.4% | -11.6% |
| 2021 | 1.2% | -13.4% |
| 2022 | 1.0% | -14.7% |
| 2023 | 0.8% | -24.0% |
| 2024 | 0.7% | -10.8% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 4.2% | 3.4% | 5.1% | 10 |
| 2010s | 2.4% | 1.6% | 3.3% | 10 |
| 2020s | 1.0% | 0.7% | 1.4% | 5 |
Countries ranked near World
- 16 Angola 7.1% compare
- 17 Central African Republic 6.8% compare
- 18 Papua New Guinea 5.3% compare
- 19 Burkina Faso 4.8% compare
- 20 Mozambique 4.5% compare
- 21 Côte d'Ivoire 4.3% compare
- 22 Congo, Democratic Republic of the 3.9% compare
More health data for World
- Population ages 65-69, male, annual growth rate 0.7584 % change on previous year (2025)
- Population ages 65-69, male, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Population ages 65-69, male, per capita 0.0169 units per person (2025)
- Population ages 70-74, female, annual growth rate 3.59 % change on previous year (2025)
- Population ages 70-74, female, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Population ages 70-74, female, per capita 0.0156 units per person (2025)
- Population ages 70-74, male, annual growth rate 3.67 % change on previous year (2025)
- Population ages 70-74, male, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Population ages 70-74, male, per capita 0.0131 units per person (2025)
- Population ages 75-79, female, annual growth rate 6.56 % change on previous year (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is people practicing open defecation, urban in World?
- People practicing open defecation, urban in World was 0.7% 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, urban recorded in World?
- The highest recorded value was 5.1% in 2000.
- What is the lowest people practicing open defecation, urban recorded in World?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.7% in 2024.
- How does World rank for people practicing open defecation, urban?
- World ranks 19th out of 47 groups with data for 2024.
- Is people practicing open defecation, urban rising or falling in World?
- Over the last ten years it is down 72.6%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this World 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, urban (% of urban 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.