What does 70% of the world use instead of toilet paper?

Approximately 70% of the world's population uses water — delivered by bidets, handheld sprayers, or dedicated bidet fixtures — as the primary method of post-toilet hygiene rather than dry toilet paper.

Water-based hygiene is the standard across much of Asia, the Middle East, Southern Europe, and South America, where bidet fixtures and handheld sprayers are built into bathrooms as a baseline expectation, not an upgrade. The practice predates modern toilet paper by centuries in several cultures. In Japan, for example, bidet-equipped toilets are found in roughly 80% of households — a figure driven by public health expectations, not luxury preference. Toilet paper, by contrast, is dominant primarily in North America, Northern Europe, and Australia.

• Water-based hygiene methods (bidets, sprayers) are used by an estimated 70% of the global population.
• Japan bidet penetration rate: approximately 80% of households as of recent surveys.
• Toilet paper is the dominant hygiene method in roughly 30% of the world, concentrated in North America and Northern Europe.
• Handheld bidet sprayers (also called "bum guns") are the most common water-hygiene format across Southeast Asia and the Middle East.
• Electronic bidet seats — like those offered by TOTTE — replicate full water-wash functionality without replacing the existing toilet bowl.