According to the European Statistical Office (Eurostat), something as simple as using the own home's toilet is still not available to everyone, even in the most developed countries in Europe.
In 2018, an estimated 2.1% of people in the European Union (EU) lived in a dwelling without its own indoor flushing toilet. However, this represents a decrease of 1.2 percentage points compared with 2010 (3.3%).
These data, published by Eurostat, show a great disparity between the 28 EU member states.
More than one in four people in Romania reported that their household did not have an indoor flushing toilet (27.7%). This was by far the highest share amongst the EU Member States. Romania was followed by Bulgaria (15.3%), Lithuania (10.6%), Latvia (9.9%) and Estonia (5.3%).
In contrast, the share of dwellings with no flushing toilet was below 1% in 19 EU Member States, with the lowest shares in Germany, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Sweden (close to 0%).
In Finland, the percentage of people who cannot enjoy a flushing toilet for the sole use of their households is 0.4%. In a country with slightly more than 5.5 million inhabitants (according to the Population Information System) this is equivalent to about 22,000 people.
