Access to electricity in urban vs. rural areas in Cameroon
Cameroon: Access to electricity in urban vs. rural areas was 95.6% in 2024. ▲ Rising
Access to electricity in urban vs. rural areas in Cameroon, 1991–2024
Source: SDG 7.1.1 Electrification Dataset, World Bank, via World Bank (2026) – processed by Our World in Data. Measured in % of urban population.
Analysis
Cameroon recorded 95.6% for access to electricity in urban vs. rural areas in 2024.
That represents a change of down 0.2% on the previous year and up 7.2% over ten years.
Over the whole period, access to electricity in urban vs. rural areas in Cameroon peaked at 95.8% in 2023 and was at its lowest, 63.0%, in 1991.
Cameroon ranks 168th of 212 countries on this measure, in the bottom quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 34 years of available data.
Access to electricity in urban vs. rural areas in Cameroon, year by year
| Year | % of urban population | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1991 | 63.0% | — |
| 1992 | 70.1% | +11.2% |
| 1993 | 71.0% | +1.3% |
| 1994 | 71.9% | +1.3% |
| 1995 | 72.8% | +1.2% |
| 1996 | 73.6% | +1.2% |
| 1997 | 74.5% | +1.2% |
| 1998 | 79.0% | +6.1% |
| 1999 | 76.1% | -3.6% |
| 2000 | 79.0% | +3.7% |
| 2001 | 84.0% | +6.3% |
| 2002 | 78.5% | -6.5% |
| 2003 | 79.3% | +1.0% |
| 2004 | 77.1% | -2.8% |
| 2005 | 80.9% | +4.9% |
| 2006 | 73.0% | -9.8% |
| 2007 | 90.4% | +23.8% |
| 2008 | 83.5% | -7.6% |
| 2009 | 84.4% | +1.1% |
| 2010 | 87.4% | +3.6% |
| 2011 | 87.5% | +0.1% |
| 2012 | 88.2% | +0.8% |
| 2013 | 88.5% | +0.3% |
| 2014 | 89.2% | +0.8% |
| 2015 | 89.8% | +0.7% |
| 2016 | 90.6% | +0.9% |
| 2017 | 91.4% | +0.9% |
| 2018 | 90.0% | -1.5% |
| 2019 | 93.1% | +3.4% |
| 2020 | 93.9% | +0.9% |
| 2021 | 94.7% | +0.9% |
| 2022 | 94.0% | -0.7% |
| 2023 | 95.8% | +1.9% |
| 2024 | 95.6% | -0.2% |
Cameroon compared with similar countries
- Cameroon's 95.6% is below the median for lower middle income countries, which is 97.0%, 99% of the median. (47 countries reporting)
- Cameroon's 95.6% is above the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 85.3%, 1.1× the median. (48 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 72.4% | 63.0% | 79.0% | 9 |
| 2000s | 81.0% | 73.0% | 90.4% | 10 |
| 2010s | 89.6% | 87.4% | 93.1% | 10 |
| 2020s | 94.8% | 93.9% | 95.8% | 5 |
Countries ranked near Cameroon
More energy & mining data for Cameroon
- Fossil fuel consumption by fuel, per unit of GDP 0 terawatt-hours per US$ of GDP (2024)
- Primary energy use, annual growth rate 3.79 % change on previous year (2024)
- Coal consumption, per capita 0 terawatt-hours per person (2024)
- Coal consumption, per unit of GDP 0 terawatt-hours per US$ of GDP (2024)
- Primary energy use, per unit of GDP 0 terawatt-hours per US$ of GDP (2024)
- Coal production, per capita 0 terawatt-hours per person (2024)
- Coal production, per unit of GDP 0 terawatt-hours per US$ of GDP (2024)
- Primary energy use, per capita 0 terawatt-hours per person (2024)
- Fuel imports 24.2% (2023)
- Ores and metals imports 1.5% (2023)
Frequently asked questions
- What is access to electricity in urban vs. rural areas in Cameroon?
- Access to electricity in urban vs. rural areas in Cameroon was 95.6% in 2024, according to SDG 7.1.1 Electrification Dataset, World Bank, via World Bank (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest access to electricity in urban vs. rural areas recorded in Cameroon?
- The highest recorded value was 95.8% in 2023.
- What is the lowest access to electricity in urban vs. rural areas recorded in Cameroon?
- The lowest recorded value was 63.0% in 1991.
- How does Cameroon rank for access to electricity in urban vs. rural areas?
- Cameroon ranks 168th out of 212 countries with data for 2024.
- Is access to electricity in urban vs. rural areas rising or falling in Cameroon?
- Over the last ten years it is up 7.2%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Cameroon data come from?
- The figures come from SDG 7.1.1 Electrification Dataset, World Bank, via World Bank (2026) – processed by Our World in Data, published as part of Access to electricity in urban vs. rural areas. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 34 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
The definition used in international statistics adopts a very low cutoff for what it means to ‘have access to electricity’. It is defined as having an electricity source that can provide very basic lighting, and charge a phone or power a radio for 4 hours per day.