Introduction

Sanitation is fundamental to human development. Safely managed sanitation services can reduce diarrheal disease, and can significantly lessen the adverse health impacts of other disorders.

Using data from the WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene obtained through the World Bank Open Data, I created a chart below about the indicator “people using at least basic sanitation services (as a percent of the population)” for 191 countries around the world from 2000 to 2017.

How to read the chart

Each circle represents one country. The 191 countries are categorized into four income groups based on the Gross National Income (GNI) per capita in 2018. The X-axis indicates the percentage of the country’s population that uses at least basic sanitation services. The density estimates are drawn for each group and reflect the distribution of countries.

As the year progresses, the circles move along the X-axis. The color of the circle indicates whether the indicator in that country has decreased, stayed the same, or increased from 2000 to 2017. As the circles move, the distribution of countries reshapes.

Takeaways

Further analysis ideas

Further analysis could investigate other non-income factors that may explain the gap in the share of the population using at least basic sanitation services. Case studies of the outlier countries that have the largest increase or decrease would reveal insights on what is needed to improve the sanitation situations around the world.

Source and method

The 191 countries represented in the chart are the countries that have data for all years between 2000 and 2017. The list of countries and more information could be seen below. The term country does not imply political independence but refers to any territory for which authorities report separate social or economic statistics.

country income sanitationIndicator2000 sanitationIndicator2017 sanitationIndicatorChange
Afghanistan Low income 23.52 43.42 Increased
Albania Upper middle income 88.33 97.72 Increased
Algeria Upper middle income 83.73 87.59 Increased
American Samoa Upper middle income 64.88 54.45 Decreased
Andorra High income 100.00 100.00 Decreased
Angola Lower middle income 27.56 49.88 Increased
Antigua and Barbuda High income 82.41 87.50 Increased
Armenia Upper middle income 86.90 93.64 Increased
Australia High income 99.99 99.99 Unchanged
Austria High income 100.00 99.97 Decreased
Azerbaijan Upper middle income 63.21 92.51 Increased
Bahamas, The High income 87.60 94.93 Increased
Bahrain High income 99.85 100.00 Increased
Bangladesh Lower middle income 25.64 48.23 Increased
Barbados High income 88.85 97.28 Increased
Belarus Upper middle income 91.67 97.79 Increased
Belgium High income 99.48 99.49 Increased
Belize Upper middle income 82.44 87.86 Increased
Benin Low income 8.60 16.45 Increased
Bermuda High income 99.99 99.90 Decreased
Bhutan Lower middle income 49.76 69.25 Increased
Bolivia Lower middle income 34.51 60.72 Increased
Bosnia and Herzegovina Upper middle income 95.08 95.36 Increased
Botswana Upper middle income 51.92 77.27 Increased
Brazil Upper middle income 72.86 88.29 Increased
Bulgaria Upper middle income 85.83 86.00 Increased
Burkina Faso Low income 11.29 19.40 Increased
Burundi Low income 45.21 45.82 Increased
Cabo Verde Lower middle income 40.04 73.85 Increased
Cambodia Lower middle income 9.96 59.23 Increased
Cameroon Lower middle income 40.04 39.08 Decreased
Canada High income 99.78 99.29 Decreased
Chad Low income 11.55 8.34 Decreased
Chile High income 92.07 100.00 Increased
China Upper middle income 56.29 84.76 Increased
Colombia Upper middle income 71.57 89.63 Increased
Comoros Low income 29.20 35.86 Increased
Congo, Dem. Rep. Low income 21.40 20.46 Decreased
Congo, Rep. Lower middle income 11.92 20.17 Increased
Costa Rica Upper middle income 93.26 97.82 Increased
Cote d’Ivoire Lower middle income 21.00 32.13 Increased
Croatia High income 96.16 96.54 Increased
Cuba Upper middle income 87.03 92.81 Increased
Curacao High income 98.09 98.95 Increased
Cyprus High income 99.85 99.15 Decreased
Czech Republic High income 99.14 99.13 Decreased
Denmark High income 99.60 99.60 Decreased
Djibouti Lower middle income 47.24 63.61 Increased
Dominican Republic Upper middle income 77.75 83.89 Increased
Ecuador Upper middle income 69.67 87.99 Increased
Egypt, Arab Rep. Lower middle income 92.22 94.19 Increased
El Salvador Lower middle income 83.20 87.43 Increased
Equatorial Guinea Upper middle income 54.79 66.31 Increased
Estonia High income 99.72 99.15 Decreased
Eswatini Lower middle income 50.14 58.35 Increased
Ethiopia Low income 3.40 7.32 Increased
Fiji Upper middle income 79.52 95.07 Increased
Finland High income 99.45 99.45 Decreased
France High income 98.66 98.65 Decreased
French Polynesia High income 98.37 96.85 Decreased
Gabon Upper middle income 34.46 47.41 Increased
Gambia, The Low income 57.65 39.23 Decreased
Georgia Lower middle income 95.06 90.02 Decreased
Germany High income 99.22 99.23 Increased
Ghana Lower middle income 8.56 18.47 Increased
Gibraltar High income 100.00 100.00 Unchanged
Greece High income 97.33 98.98 Increased
Greenland High income 99.60 99.60 Decreased
Grenada Upper middle income 89.73 91.49 Increased
Guatemala Upper middle income 63.30 65.06 Increased
Guinea Low income 9.43 22.72 Increased
Guinea-Bissau Low income 11.65 20.54 Increased
Guyana Upper middle income 78.81 85.76 Increased
Haiti Low income 16.75 34.70 Increased
Honduras Lower middle income 62.64 81.25 Increased
Hong Kong SAR, China High income 96.80 96.44 Decreased
Hungary High income 98.04 97.99 Decreased
Iceland High income 98.80 98.78 Decreased
India Lower middle income 16.37 59.54 Increased
Indonesia Lower middle income 41.09 73.13 Increased
Iran, Islamic Rep. Upper middle income 87.25 88.42 Increased
Iraq Upper middle income 71.00 94.12 Increased
Ireland High income 89.54 91.25 Increased
Israel High income 100.00 100.00 Increased
Jamaica Upper middle income 81.99 87.31 Increased
Japan High income 100.00 99.89 Decreased
Jordan Upper middle income 98.46 97.34 Decreased
Kazakhstan Upper middle income 96.80 97.87 Increased
Kenya Lower middle income 33.59 29.05 Decreased
Kiribati Lower middle income 23.69 47.80 Increased
Korea, Rep. High income 100.00 100.00 Unchanged
Kuwait High income 100.00 100.00 Unchanged
Kyrgyz Republic Lower middle income 92.49 96.51 Increased
Lao PDR Lower middle income 28.29 74.46 Increased
Latvia High income 88.48 92.15 Increased
Lebanon Upper middle income 75.06 98.48 Increased
Lesotho Lower middle income 8.90 42.75 Increased
Liberia Low income 13.52 16.97 Increased
Libya Upper middle income 97.42 100.00 Increased
Liechtenstein High income 99.95 99.95 Unchanged
Lithuania High income 84.32 93.35 Increased
Luxembourg High income 97.71 97.60 Decreased
Madagascar Low income 4.55 10.51 Increased
Malawi Low income 20.80 26.23 Increased
Malaysia Upper middle income 96.80 99.57 Increased
Maldives Upper middle income 73.80 99.37 Increased
Mali Low income 16.19 39.34 Increased
Malta High income 100.00 99.96 Decreased
Mauritania Lower middle income 17.44 48.44 Increased
Mauritius Upper middle income 90.08 95.50 Increased
Mexico Upper middle income 75.20 91.18 Increased
Micronesia, Fed. Sts. Lower middle income 24.50 88.31 Increased
Moldova Lower middle income 74.31 76.31 Increased
Monaco High income 100.00 100.00 Unchanged
Mongolia Lower middle income 47.96 58.48 Increased
Morocco Lower middle income 65.71 88.50 Increased
Mozambique Low income 10.46 29.36 Increased
Myanmar Lower middle income 70.89 64.33 Decreased
Namibia Upper middle income 28.11 34.50 Increased
Nauru Upper middle income 65.70 65.60 Decreased
Nepal Low income 15.12 62.05 Increased
Netherlands High income 98.06 97.71 Decreased
New Caledonia High income 100.00 100.00 Unchanged
New Zealand High income 100.00 100.00 Decreased
Nicaragua Lower middle income 58.37 74.43 Increased
Niger Low income 5.07 13.57 Increased
Nigeria Lower middle income 29.52 39.17 Increased
Northern Mariana Islands High income 75.31 78.91 Increased
Norway High income 98.07 98.05 Decreased
Oman High income 88.69 100.00 Increased
Pakistan Lower middle income 31.37 59.87 Increased
Palau High income 99.30 100.00 Increased
Panama High income 61.07 83.32 Increased
Papua New Guinea Lower middle income 20.88 12.95 Decreased
Paraguay Upper middle income 70.34 89.78 Increased
Peru Upper middle income 64.20 74.34 Increased
Philippines Lower middle income 62.13 76.53 Increased
Poland High income 87.57 98.80 Increased
Portugal High income 97.32 99.61 Increased
Puerto Rico High income 97.06 97.17 Increased
Qatar High income 99.99 100.00 Increased
Russian Federation Upper middle income 83.38 90.48 Increased
Rwanda Low income 45.44 66.57 Increased
Samoa Upper middle income 97.56 98.17 Increased
San Marino High income 100.00 100.00 Unchanged
Sao Tome and Principe Lower middle income 20.39 42.97 Increased
Saudi Arabia High income 98.41 100.00 Increased
Senegal Low income 38.89 51.47 Increased
Serbia Upper middle income 95.28 97.57 Increased
Seychelles High income 94.14 100.00 Increased
Sierra Leone Low income 10.18 15.65 Increased
Singapore High income 100.00 100.00 Unchanged
Sint Maarten (Dutch part) High income 98.38 98.78 Increased
Slovak Republic High income 97.87 97.94 Increased
Slovenia High income 99.11 99.11 Increased
Solomon Islands Lower middle income 20.43 33.53 Increased
Somalia Low income 19.67 38.34 Increased
South Africa Upper middle income 58.78 75.75 Increased
Spain High income 99.90 99.90 Increased
Sri Lanka Lower middle income 84.64 95.78 Increased
St. Lucia Upper middle income 81.51 88.35 Increased
St. Vincent and the Grenadines Upper middle income 70.83 87.18 Increased
Sudan Lower middle income 20.59 36.58 Increased
Suriname Upper middle income 79.19 84.46 Increased
Sweden High income 99.31 99.30 Decreased
Switzerland High income 99.90 99.89 Decreased
Syrian Arab Republic Low income 92.58 91.22 Decreased
Tajikistan Low income 89.67 97.02 Increased
Tanzania Low income 4.32 29.91 Increased
Thailand Upper middle income 92.02 98.75 Increased
Togo Low income 9.99 16.13 Increased
Tonga Upper middle income 88.73 93.45 Increased
Trinidad and Tobago High income 90.02 93.40 Increased
Tunisia Lower middle income 77.08 90.92 Increased
Turkey Upper middle income 81.95 97.30 Increased
Turkmenistan Upper middle income 92.81 98.70 Increased
Turks and Caicos Islands High income 80.89 87.99 Increased
Uganda Low income 17.39 18.47 Increased
Ukraine Lower middle income 94.40 96.22 Increased
United Arab Emirates High income 98.52 98.59 Increased
United Kingdom High income 99.13 99.11 Decreased
United States High income 99.97 99.97 Increased
Uruguay High income 93.84 96.60 Increased
Uzbekistan Lower middle income 92.68 100.00 Increased
Vanuatu Lower middle income 61.82 34.07 Decreased
Vietnam Lower middle income 52.37 83.52 Increased
Virgin Islands (U.S.) High income 98.94 99.37 Increased
West Bank and Gaza Lower middle income 90.15 96.94 Increased
Yemen, Rep. Low income 42.10 59.05 Increased
Zambia Lower middle income 23.66 26.37 Increased
Zimbabwe Low income 45.93 36.22 Decreased


Data are downloaded via the World Bank API. The code of the analysis could be found here.

The indicator on sanitation is produced by the Joint Monitoring Programme of the World Health Organization (WHO) and United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) based on administrative sources, national censuses and nationally representative household surveys. WHO/UNICEF defines safely managed sanitation facilities as improved sanitation facilities that are not shared with other households and where excreta are safely disposed of in situ or transported and treated offsite. Improved sanitation facilities include flush/pour flush to piped sewer systems, septic tanks or pit latrines: ventilated improved pit latrines, compositing toilets or pit latrines with slabs.