People with basic handwashing facilities including soap and water (% of population) - Country Ranking - Asia

Definition: The percentage of people living in households that have a handwashing facility with soap and water available on the premises. Handwashing facilities may be fixed or mobile and include a sink with tap water, buckets with taps, tippy-taps, and jugs or basins designated for handwashing. Soap includes bar soap, liquid soap, powder detergent, and soapy water but does not include ash, soil, sand or other handwashing agents.

Source: WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme (JMP) for Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene (washdata.org).

See also: Thematic map, Time series comparison

Find indicator:
Rank Country Value Year
1 Turkmenistan 100.00 2020
2 Kyrgyz Republic 99.85 2020
3 Kazakhstan 99.01 2019
4 Oman 97.40 2020
5 Iraq 97.39 2020
6 Armenia 94.72 2020
7 Indonesia 94.11 2020
8 Georgia 91.70 2020
9 Bhutan 91.69 2020
10 Azerbaijan 89.30 2017
11 Mongolia 86.36 2020
12 Vietnam 86.07 2020
13 Thailand 84.97 2020
14 Syrian Arab Republic 82.82 2020
15 Philippines 81.71 2020
16 Pakistan 80.06 2020
17 Myanmar 74.51 2020
18 Cambodia 73.87 2020
19 Tajikistan 72.87 2020
20 India 67.79 2020
21 Nepal 62.14 2020
22 Bangladesh 58.40 2020
23 Lao PDR 55.63 2020
24 Yemen 48.61 2017
25 Afghanistan 38.12 2020
26 Timor-Leste 28.41 2020

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Development Relevance: Hygiene is closely correlated with human health. Target 6.2 of the Sustainable Development Goals recognizes that access to facilities allowing good hygiene and sanitation should be universal, and especially important to women and girls, and those in vulnerable situations. Of the range of hygiene behaviors considered important for health, hand washing with soap and water is a top priority in all settings, and is considered one of the most cost-effective interventions to prevent diarrheal diseases. The availability of a basic handwashing facility is a prerequisite for basic hygiene facilities on premises, and is a useful proxy for hygienic behavior.

Limitations and Exceptions: Presence of a handwashing station with soap and water does not guarantee that household members consistently wash hands at key times, but is accepted as the most suitable proxy. Data on handwashing facilities are available for a growing number of low- and middle-income countries after hygiene questions were standardized in international surveys. However, this type of information is not available from most high-income countries, where access to basic handwashing facilities is assumed to be nearly universal.

Statistical Concept and Methodology: Data on drinking water, sanitation and hygiene are 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 a basic handwashing facility as a device to contain, transport or regulate the flow of water to facilitate handwashing with soap and water in the household.

Periodicity: Annual