Share of urban vs. rural population using at least basic sanitation in Papua New Guinea

Papua New Guinea: Share of urban vs. rural population using at least basic sanitation was 48.5% in 2024. ▼ Falling

Latest (2024)
48.5%
Change on year
down 0.8%
World rank
161st
of 186 countries
All-time high
56.4%
in 2000
All-time low
48.5%
in 2024
Years of data
25
2000–2024

Share of urban vs. rural population using at least basic sanitation in Papua New Guinea, 2000–2024

02040602000201220242000: 56.4 %2001: 56.4 %2002: 56.4 %2003: 56.4 %2004: 56.4 %2005: 56.1 %2006: 55.7 %2007: 55.4 %2008: 55 %2009: 54.6 %2010: 54.2 %2011: 53.8 %2012: 53.4 %2013: 53 %2014: 52.6 %2015: 52.2 %2016: 51.8 %2017: 51.4 %2018: 50.9 %2019: 50.5 %2020: 50.1 %2021: 49.7 %2022: 49.3 %2023: 48.9 %2024: 48.5 %

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

Analysis

Papua New Guinea recorded 48.5% for share of urban vs. rural population using at least basic sanitation in 2024. That is the lowest value across all 25 years on record.

That represents a change of down 0.8% on the previous year and down 7.7% over ten years.

Over the whole period, share of urban vs. rural population using at least basic sanitation in Papua New Guinea peaked at 56.4% in 2000 and was at its lowest, 48.5%, in 2024.

Papua New Guinea ranks 161st of 186 countries on this measure, in the bottom quarter.

The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 25 years of available data.

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
2000s 55.9% 54.6% 56.4% 10
2010s 52.4% 50.5% 54.2% 10
2020s 49.3% 48.5% 50.1% 5

Countries ranked near Papua New Guinea

  1. 158 Vanuatu 50.8% compare
  2. 159 Namibia 50.2% compare
  3. 160 Kiribati 49.3% compare
  4. 162 Burkina Faso 48.4% compare
  5. 163 Guinea 48.4% compare
  6. 164 Malawi 48.0% compare

See the full ranking of 186 places →

More population data for Papua New Guinea

All data for Papua New Guinea →

Frequently asked questions

What is share of urban vs. rural population using at least basic sanitation in Papua New Guinea?
Share of urban vs. rural population using at least basic sanitation in Papua New Guinea was 48.5% 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 share of urban vs. rural population using at least basic sanitation recorded in Papua New Guinea?
The highest recorded value was 56.4% in 2000.
What is the lowest share of urban vs. rural population using at least basic sanitation recorded in Papua New Guinea?
The lowest recorded value was 48.5% in 2024.
How does Papua New Guinea rank for share of urban vs. rural population using at least basic sanitation?
Papua New Guinea ranks 161st out of 186 countries with data for 2024.
Is share of urban vs. rural population using at least basic sanitation rising or falling in Papua New Guinea?
Over the last ten years it is down 7.7%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
Where does this Papua New Guinea 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 Share of urban vs. rural population using at least basic sanitation. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

Download this data

CSV · JSON — 25 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).

About this data

Indicator
Share of urban vs. rural population using at least basic sanitation
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
186 places, 4,556 data points, 2000–2024
Last refreshed

Proportion of people using improved sanitation facilities, such as toilets or latrines, that are not shared with other households.