For more details on Methodology click here. For more details on terminology click here.
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Last Updated 9th February 2025.
Note: The funding requirement listed below is currently a projected funding requirement which is subject to change.
How much funding is the WASH Sector forecast to receive in 2025?
Funding to the Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) sector is forecast to be between $0.9bn and $2.3bn in 2023. Our central estimate is $1.4bn. For reference, the WASH sector received $1.3bn in total last year.
This forecast is based on our 95% probability range. In other words, we are 95% sure that funding will be between $0.9bn and $2.3bn. Below are the other forecast ranges for the WASH sector. As we become less sure about our forecast, the range narrows. So for example, we think there’s a 50% probability that funding will be between $1.2bn and $1.7bn.
But we need to put this into context. What does the forecast mean in terms of reaching the funding that is required for the sector (also known as the funding requirement)? The total funding requirement globally is determined by how much is needed in each context. If you hover over the donut below you’ll be able to see the chances of reaching 25%, 50%, 75%, and 100% of the funding that is required.
We think that it is almost certain that WASH will reach 25% of the requirement in 2025, although highly unlikely of reaching the next milestone of 50%.
How does the 2025 forecast compare to previous years?
The funding needed for the WASH sector has increased hugely in the past seven years, from $1.5bn in 2018, to $4.2bn in 2023. This is equivalent to a year-on-year increase in the funding required of 19%.
Yet, at the same time that the WASH sector was asking for more, funding to the WASH sector stagnated in 2020 and 2021. Despite this, the sector experienced a large leap in 2022 to $1.3bn, up from $657m in 2021. This leap in funding also led to the funding gap decreasing from 78% to 66%.
With the funding gap increasing in 2024, that means that WASH stands on the precipice of a real humanitarian recession. In this story, we’ve defined a real humanitarian recession as two consecutive years of a growing funding gap. So what are the odds of the sector continuing to experience real growth (closing the funding gap)?
We think that it is likely that the WASH sector will grow in 2025 – meaning that the funding gap will close. But there’s also a realistic possibility that the sector will experience real negative growth, in other words, the funding gap will increase.
How does the 2025 forecast compare to other sectors?
The WASH sector is forecast to rank 4th out of all humanitarian sectors. This places WASH firmly in the ‘top-half’ of sectors which tend to have $2bn+ funding requirements.
Methodology
The usual health warning: FTS doesn’t capture everything. It is a platform that relies on voluntary reporting by organisations. But it is the most comprehensive source of data for humanitarian funding.
For forecast methodology, click here. We’ll be keeping a record of all our forecasts and success over time, which you can find here.
To find out methodology and sources for other things on this page which aren’t the forecast, click here.