School sanitation is measured through more than the presence of a toilet. The strongest global definition requires an improved, single-sex facility that is usable when surveyed, while country studies may instead record facilities, access, functionality or infrastructure needs.
The figures below span 2023 global estimates, country surveys, administrative counts and earlier study evidence, so their populations and definitions should be kept distinct.
Key School Sanitation Statistics
The most broadly useful school sanitation statistics include:
- In 2023, 78% of schools globally had basic sanitation service across 144 countries with estimates.
- In 2023, 11% of schools globally had a limited sanitation service.
- In 2023, 11% of schools globally had no sanitation service.
- In 2023, an estimated 427 million children lacked basic sanitation at school globally.
- In 2023, 205 million children attended schools with improved facilities that were not single-sex or usable.
- In 2023, 222 million children attended schools with no sanitation service.
- In 2023, basic sanitation coverage was 49% in low-income countries.
- In 2023, basic sanitation coverage was above 99% in high-income countries.
- In 2023, Sub-Saharan Africa had 50% basic sanitation coverage in schools.
- In 2023, basic sanitation coverage was 83% in secondary schools and 75% in primary schools globally.
- At the current pace, global basic school-sanitation coverage is projected to reach 87% by 2030.
- At the current pace, about 235 million children are projected to remain without basic school sanitation in 2030.
- Between 2014 and 2018, basic sanitation coverage in Bangladeshi schools increased from 19% to 52%.
- In 2018, 74% of Bangladeshi schools had toilets for female students and teachers.
- In 2023, Namibia reported 15,079 flush and 7,096 pit toilet units for learners.
- From September 2022 to January 2023, about 32% of assessed Armenian schools had non-functional toilets.
- From September 2022 to January 2023, 98% of girls’ facilities in the Armenian assessment lacked dedicated menstrual-hygiene facilities.
- In Peru’s 2014 school-infrastructure analysis, 58% of public-school students required more toilets, sinks or partitions for privacy and safety.
Contents
- Global school sanitation statistics and the 2030 gap
- School sanitation data by income, region and school level
- Namibia school toilet infrastructure statistics
- Armenia school sanitation and menstrual-hygiene statistics
- School sanitation infrastructure needs and measured outcomes
Global school sanitation statistics and the 2030 gap
The UNICEF Data and WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme (JMP) report, Progress on drinking-water, sanitation and hygiene in schools: 2000-2023, classifies basic sanitation as an improved, single-sex facility usable at the time of the survey. Limited service means an improved facility that is not single-sex or not usable, while no service means an unimproved facility or none.
In 2023, the JMP estimated that 78% of schools had basic sanitation, 11% had limited service and 11% had no service globally. National estimates were available for 144 countries, but the estimates represented 68% of the global school-age population rather than a complete census. UNICEF Data and JMP, Progress on drinking-water, sanitation and hygiene in schools: 2000-2023
The child-level burden was also substantial:
- An estimated 427 million children lacked a basic sanitation service at school in 2023.
- Of that estimate, 205 million children had improved facilities that were not single-sex or usable.
- The remaining component was 222 million children in schools with no sanitation service.
These are components of the same global estimate, not three additive populations. The coverage limitation matters because the estimate represents the population covered by national estimates, not every school-age child worldwide.
The 2030 outlook is a forecast, not an observed result. If the current rate of progress continues, global basic-sanitation coverage is projected to reach 87% by 2030, while about 235 million children would still lack a basic school sanitation service.
School sanitation data by income, region and school level
The 2023 JMP estimates show a wide gap between income groups and settings. The figures below use the JMP’s own groupings and should not be read as facility counts.
| Group or school level | Basic sanitation coverage, 2023 |
|---|---|
| Low-income countries | 49% of schools |
| High-income countries | Above 99% of schools |
| Fragile contexts | 52% of schools |
| Sub-Saharan Africa | 50% of schools |
| Oceania | 51% of schools |
| Secondary schools | 83% of schools |
| Primary schools | 75% of schools |
Source: UNICEF Data and JMP, Progress on drinking-water, sanitation and hygiene in schools: 2000-2023. There was insufficient data for a global pre-primary estimate.
The distribution of deprivation is concentrated in vulnerable settings. Two out of five children lacking basic school sanitation lived in Least Developed Countries in 2023, and three out of four lived in fragile contexts; both are rounded shares of the global deprived population.
Bangladesh provides a country-specific example of change over time. A peer-reviewed study comparing weighted school surveys from 2014 and 2018 found basic sanitation coverage rising from 19% to 52%, a reported 33-percentage-point difference with a 95% confidence interval of 26–39 points.
The same study recorded several related measures in all Bangladeshi schools:
- Schools with toilets for female students and teachers increased from 22% in 2014 to 74% in 2018.
- Schools with soap or detergent within 30 metres of the latrine increased from 59% to 83%.
- Students reporting access to latrines when necessary increased from 86% to 94%.
- Students perceiving that latrine use reduces illness increased from 62% to 66%.
- Students perceiving that latrine use reduces diarrhea increased from 33% to 36%; the reported confidence interval for the difference was -2 to 8 points.
- Students perceiving that latrine use reduces germs increased from 26% to 53%.
These perception measures are not measured disease reductions. Improving WASH facilities and practices in Bangladeshi schools: progress and challenges from 2014 to 2018
Urban and rural Bangladesh also differed in the reported facility changes. Female-student and teacher toilets rose from 42% to 80% in urban schools and from 20% to 74% in rural schools between 2014 and 2018; soap or detergent within 30 metres rose from 70% to 89% in urban schools and from 58% to 82% in rural schools.
In 2018, 100% of urban teachers and 99% of rural teachers reported that latrines were accessible throughout the year, a reported-access measure rather than an independent usability inspection.
Namibia school toilet infrastructure statistics
Namibia’s 2023 administrative table measures toilet units, not the number of students or teachers served. It therefore complements, but does not replace, service-level measures such as usability and single-sex access.
| Population and facility type | Units reported in 2023 | Flush share |
|---|---|---|
| Learners: flush toilets | 15,079 | 68.0% of learner units |
| Learners: pit toilets | 7,096 | — |
| Teachers: flush toilets | 3,527 | 69.6% of teacher units |
| Teachers: pit toilets | 1,542 | — |
Source: UNICEF Namibia, Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Cost Report, 2023 administrative table.
At school level, 90.8% of Namibian schools had toilets for learners in 2023. All 57 schools listed in the table had toilets for teachers, but the learner and teacher denominators differ, and facility presence does not establish functionality or the JMP basic-service definition.
Regional variation appears in the same administrative data. Zambezi had 60.3% flush learner toilet units in 2023, compared with the national learner-unit share reported above; this is a regional unit composition measure, not a coverage rate.
Armenia school sanitation and menstrual-hygiene statistics
A UNICEF Armenia assessment conducted from September 2022 through January 2023 evaluated 215 schools and 135 kindergartens, or 350 institutions in total. It was an assessment sample covering urban and rural institutions, not a complete national census.
Among the assessed schools, about 32% had non-functional toilets. The assessment included repair, financing and low-enrolment-related factors in its discussion of non-functionality, so the finding should not be equated with a single engineering failure rate.
Menstrual-hygiene readiness was particularly limited in the observed facilities:
- Dedicated menstrual-hygiene facilities were lacking in 98% of girls’ facilities.
- Only 20% of assessed schools had a sanitary trash can available.
- Only 1% had informational materials on menstrual hygiene in the bathroom.
The last two measures record observed availability, not use, adequacy, student exposure or effectiveness. They also concern assessed Armenian schools and should not be compared directly with global school sanitation coverage without aligning definitions and denominators. UNICEF Armenia, “Thirty-one percent of schools in Armenia do not have access to water or handwashing facilities”
School sanitation infrastructure needs and measured outcomes
The World Bank’s technical note on Peru’s 2014 School Infrastructure Census distinguishes infrastructure needs from observed absence of all sanitation facilities. Among public-school students, 58% required more toilets, sinks or partitions to assure restroom privacy and safety, while 25% required more urinals.
The intervention chart identified 181,069 students needing maintenance of urinals.
| Peru infrastructure measure | Population or count | Period |
|---|---|---|
| Students needing more toilets, sinks or partitions | 58% of public-school students | 2014 census analysis |
| Students needing more urinals | 25% of public-school students | 2014 census analysis |
| Students needing urinal maintenance | 181,069 students | 2014 census analysis |
The same note cites related household water-access evidence, not direct school-toilet trials. One cited estimate associated reducing water-hauling time by 15 minutes with an 8%–12% increase in school attendance among girls aged 5–15; other cited estimates associated reducing hauling time by one hour with 10% higher enrollment in Yemen and 12% higher enrollment in Pakistan.
The note also cites a WHO estimate of 1.863 billion school attendance days gained through reduced diarrheal disease associated with water, sanitation and hygiene improvements. This is a global estimate attributed to WASH-related reductions in diarrheal disease, not a count from one school program.
A systematic review of WASH in schools in low- and middle-income countries reported facility-distance and behavior findings from individual studies. The longest classroom-to-sanitation-facility distance found in included studies was 114 metres, a maximum across heterogeneous studies rather than a global average.
In Ibadan, Nigeria, 12% of assessed schools had toilets 41–60 metres from classrooms and 5% had toilets 81–100 metres away. In five schools in Dessie City, Ethiopia, 55% of interviewed students said they did not use the toilet and water point correctly; this was self-reported behavior, and correctness was defined by that study.