In 2015 the United Nations adopted the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that aim to provide a “…shared blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet.” SDG7 seeks to “ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all.”1
Electrification is key to meeting SDG7, and more generally to meeting all the goals. Illumination at night improves educational outcomes and expands household income opportunities. In manufacturing and industry, electrification improves the productivity of labor and capital and thus spurs wages on economic growth. Electricity is among the choices for clean cooking energy that can reduce the large health impacts of reliance on coal, wood, and dung as household fuels.
The share of the world’s population with access to electricity increased from about 74% in 1990 to about 90% in 2022.2 A tremendous achievement no doubt, but that leaves nearly 800 million people without access to electricity. The map clearly illustrates where the problem is concentrated: sub-Saharan Africa.
Some countries have made tremendous gains in access to electricity. In 1992 about 90% of the people in Bangladesh did not have access to electricity. By 2022 more than 90% did have access—an amazing accomplishment. Other nations have seen little improvement: 90% of people in South Sudan lack access to electricity. On the other hand, access to electricity has declined in Libya due to the political instability and civil conflict since the overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011. This conflict disrupted basic infrastructure, including power generation and distribution networks.
The connection between electricity and income is a two-way street. Access to electricity can raise incomes due to its effects on education, health, and productivity. But those gains in well-being require access to electricity. Nearly every country, classified by The World Bank as high-income has universal access to electricity. Most of the countries with low levels of access have low incomes. In the middle-income brackets, access to electricity exhibits a very large range, pointing to the importance of governance, institutions, and factors other than income.
1 United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, “Sustainable Development Goals,” https://sdgs.un.org/goals
2 International Energy Agency, “Access to Electricity,” accessed March 11, 2024, https://www.iea.org/reports/sdg7-data-and-projections/access-to-electricity
