Bangladesh National WASH Accounts 2020

The Bangladesh National WASH Accounts (BNWA) 2020 is the country's first-ever comprehensive financial tracking exercise for the Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) sector. It was jointly produced by the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) and WaterAid Bangladesh, under the Local Government Division (LGD) of the Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives. Following the WHO-endorsed "TrackFin" methodology, the report aims to serve as a benchmark for monitoring WASH financing trends, informing evidence-based policy, and supporting Bangladesh's commitment to SDG 6 — ensuring safe water and sanitation for all by 2030. The data covers 2020 and was collected through a nationwide household survey (2,525 households across 202 Primary Sampling Units), government expenditure records from the Controller General of Accounts, and enterprise surveys conducted by Data International Ltd.
The total WASH expenditure in Bangladesh in 2020 was Tk. 597,553 million (approximately Tk. 598 billion), equivalent to 2.18% of GDP. Of this, Tk. 358 billion (59%) was spent on hygiene-related services alone, making hygiene the dominant spending category. Sanitation accounted for Tk. 153,761 million (25.7%), basic drinking-water supply for Tk. 51,948 million (8.7%), water supply through large network systems for Tk. 31,801 million (5.3%), and support services for just Tk. 1,819 million (0.3%). In terms of cost type, 71% (Tk. 424,534 million) went to operations and maintenance, while capital investment accounted for 28.9% (Tk. 172,493 million).
Households are the single largest source of WASH financing in Bangladesh. Average annual WASH spending per household was Tk. 11,574, representing 4.3% of annual household income. Broken down by component, households spent an average of Tk. 1,502 on water, Tk. 1,985 on sanitation, and Tk. 8,087 on hygiene. Notably, the poorest income quintile spent a higher share of their income (7.8%) on WASH compared to the richest quintile (2.8%), reflecting a disproportionate burden on low-income families. Total household WASH spending across the country was Tk. 471 billion.
Only 2.4% of the population lacks direct access to safe drinking water. Around 70% rely on tube wells for drinking water, while approximately 10% use tap or piped water, mostly urban residents. Urban WASH outlay in 2020 was Tk. 22 billion, whereas the rural population spent Tk. 49.7 billion, with 79% of rural water expenditure going towards extracting water using hand or motorized pumps. In sanitation, nearly 99% of the population uses flush/pour flush or pit latrines (48% pit latrine, 51% flush type), and around 26% of total WASH spending (Tk. 153 billion) was directed to sanitation services.
Hygiene dominates WASH expenditure, with per capita spending at Tk. 2,093 — more than four times the Tk. 500 spent per capita on water and more than double the Tk. 898 on sanitation. Handwashing and menstrual hygiene management alone accounted for 96% of total hygiene expenditure. In 2020, cleaning services cost Tk. 142 billion and personal hygiene Tk. 134 billion. Capital investment (hardware and software costs for new water, sanitation, or hygiene infrastructure) stood at Tk. 172 billion (28% of total WASH spending). Training and support activities for local stakeholders accounted for just 3% of total expenditure.
Government financing covered approximately 16% of total WASH spending, with the central government contributing Tk. 80.3 billion and local authorities Tk. 13.5 billion out of a total government outlay of Tk. 96.5 billion. The Local Government Division (LGD) alone bore about 10% of total WASH expenditure. Geographically, Dhaka Division led all regions with Tk. 204 billion (the highest share), followed by Chattogram at Tk. 139 billion. Rajshahi contributed 12% of total spending, while Sylhet and Barishal recorded the lowest shares at 4.6% and 3.1% respectively. Bilateral agency spending directly on WASH projects was a modest Tk. 1.3 billion, underscoring that external aid covers only a small fraction of total sector needs.