Access to handwashing facilities in Zambia

Zambia: Access to handwashing facilities was 18.4% in 2024. ▲ Rising

Latest (2024)
18.4%
Change on year
up 0.6%
World rank
101st
of 113 countries
All-time high
18.4%
in 2024
All-time low
17.4%
in 2015
Years of data
10
2015–2024

Access to handwashing facilities in Zambia, 2015–2024

051015202015201920242015: 17.4 %2016: 17.5 %2017: 17.6 %2018: 17.7 %2019: 17.8 %2020: 17.9 %2021: 18 %2022: 18.2 %2023: 18.3 %2024: 18.4 %

Source: WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene (2025) – processed by Our World in Data. Measured in %.

Analysis

The most recent figure for access to handwashing facilities in Zambia is 18.4%, measured in 2024. That is the highest value across all 10 years on record.

The figure is up 0.6% on the previous year and up 5.6% over ten years.

Over the whole period, access to handwashing facilities in Zambia peaked at 18.4% in 2024 and was at its lowest, 17.4%, in 2015.

Zambia ranks 101st of 113 countries on this measure, in the bottom quarter.

Access to handwashing facilities in Zambia, year by year

Annual values for Access to handwashing facilities in Zambia, 2015 to 2024.
Year % Change
2015 17.4%
2016 17.5% +0.6%
2017 17.6% +0.6%
2018 17.7% +0.6%
2019 17.8% +0.6%
2020 17.9% +0.6%
2021 18.0% +0.6%
2022 18.2% +0.6%
2023 18.3% +0.6%
2024 18.4% +0.6%

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
2010s 17.6% 17.4% 17.8% 5
2020s 18.2% 17.9% 18.4% 5

Countries ranked near Zambia

  1. 98 Democratic Republic of Congo 19.4% compare
  2. 99 Sierra Leone 18.7% compare
  3. 100 Rwanda 18.5% compare
  4. 102 Tanzania 17.5% compare
  5. 103 Togo 17.4% compare
  6. 104 Mali 17.3% compare

See the full ranking of 113 places →

More population data for Zambia

All data for Zambia →

Frequently asked questions

What is access to handwashing facilities in Zambia?
Access to handwashing facilities in Zambia was 18.4% 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 access to handwashing facilities recorded in Zambia?
The highest recorded value was 18.4% in 2024.
What is the lowest access to handwashing facilities recorded in Zambia?
The lowest recorded value was 17.4% in 2015.
How does Zambia rank for access to handwashing facilities?
Zambia ranks 101st out of 113 countries with data for 2024.
Is access to handwashing facilities rising or falling in Zambia?
Over the last ten years it is up 5.6%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
Where does this Zambia 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 Access to handwashing facilities. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

Download this data

CSV · JSON — 10 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).

Share, cite or embed this page

Cite this page

Access to handwashing facilities in Zambia. Statizoid, drawing on WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene (2025) – processed by Our World in Data. Retrieved 28 August 2026, from https://population.statizoid.com/stat/share-of-the-population-with-access-to-handwashing-facilities/zambia/

Embed or link this data

Paste this into a page to link back to these figures. The data itself is free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data); please keep the attribution.

<a href="https://population.statizoid.com/stat/share-of-the-population-with-access-to-handwashing-facilities/zambia/">Access to handwashing facilities in Zambia</a> — Statizoid

About this data

Indicator
Access to 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, 1,032 data points, 2015–2024
Last refreshed

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