Global electricity access is expanding at a record pace, yet the number of people still living without power globally has barely budged. New analysis tracking progress toward universal electricity access found that roughly 89 million people got new access to power in 2024, though the total global shortfall edged down by just 11.5 million, the smallest yearly improvement on record going back to 2010, aside from a brief bump in 2022. As of 2024, some 655 million people still lack access to electricity.
African energy data illustrates why the numbers move so slowly. The continent has brought power to 453 million people since 2010, a figure larger than the EU’s entire population. Even so, its unpowered population dropped by just 10 million across that stretch, sliding from 591 million to 581 million.
The reason traces back to population growth: the continent gained 443 million new residents over the same years, so its population growth swallowed up almost all of the progress. The deficit is also heavily concentrated in a handful of African countries.
A cluster of just three nations, Nigeria, Congo, and Ethiopia, carries roughly 229 million of the world’s unpowered residents between them, nearly a third of the total shortfall worldwide. Broaden that list to 22 nations and the concentration only sharpens: together they contain four-fifths of all people on Earth who still live their day-to-day lives without power.
Asia tells a different but somewhat concerning story, especially as the continent continues to bear the brunt of climate change-caused heat waves. Its shortfall has shrunk to 54 million, a steep drop from over half a billion people in 2010, and access there now tops 99% of the population.
But that progress rests on a thin foundation: developing nations there generate far less renewable power per resident than the global norm, meaning much of Asia’s last stretch toward full access risks running on fossil fuels rather than clean power.
Hitting the 2030 target means quadrupling the current rate of progress, bringing power to roughly 177 million additional people worldwide each year. One initiative already shows that acceleration is possible. A partnership between the World Bank and the African Development Bank has connected 50 million people across 40 countries through June 2026.
Its current connection rate has roughly doubled since launch, and analysts say that pace could offer a genuine path toward closing the electricity access gap rather than merely narrowing it.
The statistics on people who still don’t have access to electricity around the world highlight the size of the addressable market that businesses like Turbo Energy S.A. (NASDAQ: TURB) can possibly serve as they expand their footprint around the world.
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