The Ledger · Entry 28
More of the world has a safe, private toilet
Share of the population using safely managed sanitation
Data: Our World in Data, based on the WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme (JMP)
Safely managed sanitation is the strict bar: a toilet that is not shared, where the waste is separated from human contact and safely treated or disposed of. It is what actually breaks the link between human waste and disease, and it is a harder test than simply owning a latrine.
The key rows
In 2000 fewer than a third of people met that bar. By 2024 it was 58.5%, as sewers, septic systems and treatment reached further. The rise is real and steady, though more than four in ten people still lack safely managed sanitation, most of them in fast-growing cities and poor rural areas.
Asked often
What counts as safely managed sanitation?
A private, improved toilet where waste is safely treated or disposed of, the strictest tier defined by the WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme. In 2024, 58.5% of the world met it, up from 31.3% in 2000.
How many people still lack safe sanitation?
In 2024 more than four in ten people still lacked safely managed sanitation, concentrated in fast-growing cities and poorer rural areas.
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