What we count
People without a safely managed sanitation service under the WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme definition.
People without safely managed sanitation
How many people lack a toilet and sanitation service that safely separates and treats human waste.
Published value
WORLDRelated numbers in context
2,100,000,000people without safely managed drinking water
2,482,191,781freshwater withdrawn this year
What lies behind this number
People without a safely managed sanitation service under the WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme definition.
How the source derives it
The source harmonises national observations and surveys to make the global figure as comparable across countries as possible.
What one number cannot show
The global total combines national surveys and administrative data; information on safe treatment varies between countries.
Source value
The displayed value is the latest global figure reported by WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme 2025 for 2024.
How the value is used: The value remains unchanged until a new aggregate figure is published.
Published value3,400,000,000people
- Period
- 2024
- Status
- published
- Primary data source
- WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme 2025
How the number is calculated
We display the latest published global figure without a time-based calculation.
Formula used
V = latest published valueReference value3,400,000,0002024
Data typeunchangedwithout time calculation
DisplaypublishedWHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme 2025
Source value
WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme 2025 reports the latest published figure used on this page for 2024.
Value period
We display the latest published global figure without a time-based calculation.
Display
The published value is shown without moving final digits.
Where the data comes from
The source value comes from WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme 2025 and refers to 2024. It is the latest figure published by this source. The source harmonises national observations and surveys to make the global figure as comparable across countries as possible.
Latest published and verified source value
- Publisher
- WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme 2025
- Data period
- 2024
- Verified
- 13 August 2026
- Coverage
- Worldwide
- Use
- Direct display of the latest figure