A vast majority of people still lack access to electricity in parts of Sub-Saharan Africa

How many hours have you used electricity today? For me, it’s probably all of them — from charging my phone overnight to working on my laptop, exercising with my watch, and listening to music through my earphones. It's so normal that I can't imagine life without it.

But life without electricity is a reality for millions in Sub-Saharan Africa. This map shows the share of people with access to electricity across the region. This is defined as having a source that can provide basic lighting, charge a phone, or power a radio for just 4 hours daily.

Look at the countries in dark red: in Chad, only 12% of people have access. In the Democratic Republic of Congo — a country of over 100 million people — it's just 22%. Overall, 85% of people worldwide who lack access to electricity now live in Sub-Saharan Africa.

There are bright spots, though. Countries like Kenya, where more than three-quarters of people now have electricity, show that progress in the region is possible.

Explore more data on access to electricity →

Where this page came from

This page was imported from Our World in Data. “A vast majority of people still lack access to electricity in parts of Sub-Saharan Africa” by Simon van Teutem, published by Our World in Data under CC BY 4.0. Changed here: set as a page, its interactive charts shown as pictures. Data from third parties keeps its own licence.

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