Lisbon stands out positively on the international stage: a new global report by QS Supplies reveals that the Portuguese capital ranks second worldwide among tourist cities for access to public restrooms.

The statistical study yielded very favourable results for Europe and the Pacific region, showing that Zurich, Switzerland, leads the global rankings with a density of 76.50 facilities per 100,000 people.

Lisbon follows closely, securing second place with an average of 52.50 public restrooms per 100,000 inhabitants, a figure that places the Portuguese capital substantially ahead of Sydney, Australia, which holds third place with a ratio of 45.00.

Europe

Central Europe and the Nordic countries dominate many of the top positions. Copenhagen, Denmark, ranks fourth globally with 38.80 facilities per 100,000 inhabitants, followed closely by Tallinn, Estonia, in fifth with 38.10, and Vienna, the Austrian capital, in sixth with 37.40.

North America

The first North American city on the list is San Francisco, in seventh place, with 32.60 public restrooms, followed by Taipei, Taiwan, in eighth place, with 31.90 public restrooms.

Rounding out the ten global cities with the best coverage in the tourism sector are two Eastern European capitals: Warsaw, Poland, which ranks ninth with 30.80 facilities per 100,000 inhabitants, and Budapest, Hungary, which closes the list in tenth place with 30.40 facilities per 100,000 inhabitants.

When data are analysed at the national level, using a weighted average of major cities and looking beyond the index's restriction to tourism-heavy destinations, Chiang Mai, Thailand, recorded the highest per capita ratio among the major cities studied, with 92.7 facilities per 100,000 inhabitants. In the United States, Salt Lake City leads with 66.6.

Overall, the United States shows a national average of 15.5 facilities per 100,000 inhabitants, while the United Kingdom sits slightly lower at 13.6; Exeter is the highest-ranked city in the UK, with 38.7.

"If I have to be grateful for an accessible restroom, when will I be considered an equal in the community?" — Judy Heumann, disability rights activist.

To accurately determine disparities in access to this type of public service, the QS Supplies analysis team calculated population coverage metrics for over 500 major cities worldwide.

Data collection and validation relied on identifying points of interest through urban mapping, specifically counting active infrastructure correctly tagged as "sanitary facilities" on the OpenStreetMap (OSM) open platform.

This method ties the report’s findings directly to the mapped infrastructure. Regarding geographic scope, the final report strictly excluded any cities or municipalities for which official administrative boundaries and correct territorial limits could not be validated in the OSM mapping system.

The list of cities used to build the initial tourism-sector sample was based on the prestigious Top 100 City Destinations Index, a traffic and attractiveness indicator developed by the international consultancy Euromonitor.

Additionally, the researchers applied an error-clearing process by manually adjusting data for cities showing anomalous statistical deviations.

This analytical correction made it possible to exclude restrooms located within university complexes and facilities; although digitally registered on Google Maps, these are restricted to students and staff and are not accessible to the general public or tourists moving about in public areas.

The report's final data reflect the status of municipal infrastructure networks as verified in March 2026.