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June 25, 2025—The Energy Progress Report assesses achievements in the global quest for universal access to affordable, reliable, sustainable, and modern energy by 2030. In 2023, the global effort to improve access to electricity saw a resurgence after a setback in 2022. The year marked a milestone as new electricity connections outpaced population growth, raising global access to 92 percent. This progress reduced the number of people without electricity to 666 million, a decrease of 19 million from the previous year.
Despite this positive trend, the growth rate remains insufficient to achieve universal access by 2030.
Sub-Saharan Africa
Central and Southern Asia have made remarkable progress towards universal electricity access, reducing their access gap from 414 million in 2010 to just 27 million in 2023. However, Sub-Saharan Africa faces more significant challenges. Although 35 million new people gained access to electricity in 2023, the net reduction in the access gap was only 5 million, leaving 565 million people without electricity. Sub-Saharan Africa now accounts for 85 percent of the global population without electricity, up from 50 percent in 2010.
Accelerating electrification in this region is crucial to achieving universal access. To address this, initiatives like the World Bank and African Development Bank's Mission 300 aim to provide electricity access to 300 million people by 2030, targeting more than half of the 2023 deficit.
Urban-Rural Divide
Rural areas continue to face the brunt of electricity access challenges, with 84 percent of those without electricity living in rural communities. While rural electrification progress outpaced urban areas, this was mainly due to advancements in Central and Southern Asia. In contrast, Sub-Saharan Africa's rural population growth outpaced electrification efforts, leaving 451 million rural residents without electricity in 2023. Addressing this requires a focus on understanding end-consumer needs and improving data collection and capacity building.
Decentralized Renewable Energy (DRE)
Decentralized Renewable Energy (DRE) solutions offer promising options for reaching remote and low-income populations. In 2023, DRE technologies benefited over 561 million people worldwide, providing 55 percent of new connections in Sub-Saharan Africa between 2020 and 2022. Off-grid solar is projected to be the most cost-effective solution for 41 percent of those without electricity by 2030. An estimated $95 billion in funding is needed to expand these solutions, building on the $1.2 billion invested in the off-grid solar sector in 2022-23.
Gender-Energy Nexus
Challenges persist in addressing the interlinkages between electricity access and gender. Women-headed households in Africa and South Asia are less likely to have off-grid access, with affordability being a key barrier. Electricity access, particularly for productive uses, can provide vital information on health, education, and income generation, benefiting women and children. Strengthening women's agency in the energy sector requires improving access and making electricity more affordable for female-headed households.