Toiletless Countries 2024

Toiletless countries, or countries without access to basic sanitation for the containment or disposal of excrement, do exist around the world where water access is limited or people struggle to afford to add these facilities to their homes.

In fact, the World Health Organization (WHO) notes that more than 1.5 billion people worldwide do not have basic sanitation in their homes (private latrines or toilets). Many of these people are in Africa, India, the Caribbean, and Pacific islands.

Toiletless Countries

The WHO considers the minimum for basic sanitation to be a single-household toilet that connects to a septic or composting tank, pit, or sewage pipe. Only countries where these measures are widely unavailable are considered "toiletless. These figures come from data collected by the World Health Organization, WaterAid's Out of Order report on the State of the World's Toilets, and Statista.

The Dangers of Toiletless Countries

Going without basic sanitation and proper disposal and treatment of excrement is dangerous for humans. Disease, malnutrition, socio-economic development, and overall well-being are problems in toiletless countries.

Diarrhea, dysentery, cholera, typhoid, polio, intestinal worms, and antimicrobial resistance are some of the common issues associated with a lack of toilets in countries lacking basic sanitation measures.

Without toilets in many households, many people are left to openly defecate in gutters, on the ground, or in water bodies locally. The WHO found that about 419 million people resort to this practice in toiletless countries.

Hope for Toiletless Countries

The good news is that the number of toiletless countries is continually decreasing as local, national, and international organizations contribute to basic sanitation improvements in towns, cities, and individual households. There are mobile toilet services operating in places like Ethiopia, which was once the #1 toiletless country in the world, that have helped further reduce the number of people going without a safe and sanitary toilet.

As access to clean water, soap, and health and disease education improves, sanitation measures in countries around the world should continue to follow suit. Still, it's important to understand that there are still many places worldwide where over 50% of the local population doesn't have a toilet or latrine in the home or has trouble finding public toilets when out and about.