Electricity is the starting point for almost every other development goal, from lighting a school to running a clinic. Each year, five international agencies publish a joint report on how far the world has come on the seventh Sustainable Development Goal, which covers affordable and clean energy. The 2026 edition finds that progress on electricity access has stalled at 92 percent.
How many people still lack electricity?
In 2024, 655 million people had no electricity, according to Tracking SDG 7: The Energy Progress Report 2026. The access rate was 92 percent, or 91.9 percent in the report’s chapter, and the report says it has stalled. Sub-Saharan Africa accounts for 563 million of the 655 million, which is about 86 percent of the global deficit by our own arithmetic. The report is written by the International Energy Agency (IEA), the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), the United Nations Statistics Division, the World Bank and the World Health Organization.
What is the pace needed to reach universal access?
Universal access by 2030 would require progress of 1.35 percentage points per year. From 2020 to 2024, the pace was 0.35 percentage points per year. By our own arithmetic, the required pace is nearly four times the recent one. The IEA projects that about 645 million people will still lack electricity in 2030, which is only slightly below the 2024 figure.
What about clean cooking?
About 2.0 billion people lacked access to clean cooking in 2024, according to the report text, and about 75 percent of the population has access. One figure in the report’s executive summary shows 2.7 billion, which conflicts with the text, so we use the text. Cooking with traditional fuels produces smoke that contributes to air pollution, a general connection that is not detailed in the sections we read. The IEA and the World Health Organization estimate that 1.6 to 1.8 billion people will still lack clean cooking in 2030.
How much of the world’s energy is renewable?
Renewables supplied more than 30 percent of electricity consumption in 2023. Their share of total final energy consumption was 18.0 percent in 2023, according to the text, though one figure shows 15.6 percent with an unclear label. Meeting the 2030 target requires modern renewables to reach a 32 to 35 percent share of total final energy and 68 percent of electricity generation. The report cites the COP28 pledge to triple renewable capacity. Our article on the 2025 renewable capacity record covers the latest additions.
Is energy efficiency improving?
Primary energy intensity was 3.76 megajoules per US dollar of output in 2023. The yearly improvement rate fell to 1.5 percent in 2023 from 2.4 percent in 2022. The report gives two different required rates for 2024 to 2030: about 4.2 percent in the executive summary and 3.8 percent in the outlook chapter. It does not reconcile them, so we report both. Either way, the recent pace is well below what is needed.
How much money is going to clean energy in developing countries?
International public finance for clean energy in developing countries was at least USD 24.6 billion in 2024, up from USD 24.4 billion in 2023. That is a rise of about 0.2 billion dollars, or under 1 percent by our own arithmetic, which suggests that finance has been roughly flat.
Why do some numbers differ inside the report?
Large international reports are assembled by several agencies, and chart labels can fall out of step with the text. We follow the text and flag the conflicts. Readers who need an exact figure should check the report. This is also a reminder that the United Nations system tracks goals with data that are revised each year.
Key figures at a glance
- People without electricity, 2024: 655 million
- Share in sub-Saharan Africa: 563 million
- People without clean cooking, 2024: about 2.0 billion
- Renewables share of electricity, 2023: more than 30 percent
- Clean energy finance for developing countries, 2024: at least USD 24.6 billion
What is Sustainable Development Goal 7?
The seventh Sustainable Development Goal calls for affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all by 2030. It is one of 17 goals adopted by the United Nations in 2015, and its targets cover electricity access, clean cooking, renewable energy, energy efficiency and international finance. The annual Tracking SDG 7 report is the official progress check, and the five agencies that write it are called the custodian agencies.
What does the outlook look like?
The IEA projection of about 645 million people without electricity in 2030 compares with 655 million in 2024. By our own arithmetic, that is a reduction of about 10 million people, or roughly 1.5 percent, over six years. The target is zero. For clean cooking, the 1.6 to 1.8 billion people still expected to lack access in 2030 compares with about 2.0 billion in 2024, so the gap narrows but remains large. These comparisons are our own and are not stated in the report as such.
Glossary: terms used here
- Electricity access: the share of people with an electricity connection or a basic electricity source, as defined by household surveys
- Clean cooking: cooking with fuels and technologies that produce much less harmful smoke than open fires and traditional stoves
- Total final energy consumption: the energy used by end consumers, such as households, industry and transport
- Energy intensity: the amount of energy used per unit of economic output, where a lower number means greater efficiency
- Custodian agency: an organization responsible for compiling data and reporting on a specific SDG indicator
These definitions are general ones and are not quoted from the report.
How to read the numbers
Our own reading is that the report shows two kinds of progress. Renewables and efficiency are moving in the right direction but below the pace targets, while access to electricity has plateaued at a level that leaves a stubborn core of people without service. A plateau is harder to move than a steady climb, because the people left are, in general, harder to reach. That last point is a common observation in development analysis and is not stated in the report.
Frequently asked questions
How many people have no electricity?
655 million in 2024, according to Tracking SDG 7 2026.
Where do most of them live?
In sub-Saharan Africa, which has 563 million of the 655 million.
Will the world reach universal access by 2030?
Not on current trends. The IEA projects about 645 million people will still lack electricity in 2030.
How many lack clean cooking?
About 2.0 billion in 2024.