People practicing open defecation in Rwanda
Rwanda: People practicing open defecation was 1.1% in 2024. ▼ Falling
People practicing open defecation in Rwanda, 2000–2024
Source: WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme (JMP) for Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene, World Health Organization (WHO). Measured in % of population.
Analysis
Rwanda recorded 1.1% for people practicing open defecation in 2024. That is the lowest value across all 25 years on record.
The figure is down 8.4% on the previous year and down 46.2% over ten years.
Over the whole period, people practicing open defecation in Rwanda peaked at 3.5% in 2000 and was at its lowest, 1.1%, in 2024.
Rwanda ranks 79th of 214 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 25 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 3.0% | 2.6% | 3.5% | 10 |
| 2010s | 2.0% | 1.6% | 2.5% | 10 |
| 2020s | 1.3% | 1.1% | 1.5% | 5 |
Countries ranked near Rwanda
More health data for Rwanda
- Age population, age 08, male, interpolated 180,149 (2025)
- Population, male 48.8% (2025)
- Age population, age 06, female, interpolated 181,652 (2025)
- Age population, age 06, male, interpolated 184,211 (2025)
- Population ages 15-64, female 4.43 million (2025)
- Population ages 0-14, total 5.39 million (2025)
- Age population, age 07, female, interpolated 180,330 (2025)
- Age population, age 07, male, interpolated 182,261 (2025)
- Age population, age 08, female, interpolated 178,700 (2025)
- Age population, age 11, male, interpolated 171,123 (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is people practicing open defecation in Rwanda?
- People practicing open defecation in Rwanda was 1.1% in 2024, according to WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme (JMP) for Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene, World Health Organization (WHO).
- What is the highest people practicing open defecation recorded in Rwanda?
- The highest recorded value was 3.5% in 2000.
- What is the lowest people practicing open defecation recorded in Rwanda?
- The lowest recorded value was 1.1% in 2024.
- How does Rwanda rank for people practicing open defecation?
- Rwanda ranks 79th out of 214 countries with data for 2024.
- Is people practicing open defecation rising or falling in Rwanda?
- Over the last ten years it is down 46.2%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Rwanda data come from?
- The figures come from WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme (JMP) for Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene, World Health Organization (WHO), published as part of People practicing open defecation (% of population). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 25 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).
About this data
People practicing open defecation refers to the percentage of the population defecating in the open, such as in fields, forest, bushes, open bodies of water, on beaches, in other open spaces or disposed of with solid waste.