Number of people with and without electricity access in Cameroon
Cameroon: Number of people with and without electricity access was 20.97 million people in 2024. ▲ Rising
Number of people with and without electricity access in Cameroon, 1991–2024
Source: Data compiled from multiple sources by the World Bank – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in people.
Analysis
Cameroon recorded 20.97 million people for number of people with and without electricity access in 2024. That is the highest value across all 34 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is up 2.6% on the previous year and up 67.4% over ten years.
Over the whole period, number of people with and without electricity access in Cameroon peaked at 20.97 million people in 2024 and was at its lowest, 3.38 million people, in 1991.
Cameroon ranks 54th of 214 countries on this measure, in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 34 years of available data.
Number of people with and without electricity access in Cameroon, year by year
| Year | people | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1991 | 3.38 million people | — |
| 1992 | 3.93 million people | +16.0% |
| 1993 | 4.18 million people | +6.5% |
| 1994 | 4.45 million people | +6.3% |
| 1995 | 4.72 million people | +6.2% |
| 1996 | 5.00 million people | +6.0% |
| 1997 | 5.29 million people | +5.8% |
| 1998 | 5.76 million people | +8.7% |
| 1999 | 5.91 million people | +2.7% |
| 2000 | 6.11 million people | +3.4% |
| 2001 | 7.07 million people | +15.7% |
| 2002 | 6.92 million people | -2.2% |
| 2003 | 7.29 million people | +5.3% |
| 2004 | 7.82 million people | +7.3% |
| 2005 | 8.06 million people | +3.0% |
| 2006 | 8.60 million people | +6.7% |
| 2007 | 8.70 million people | +1.2% |
| 2008 | 9.40 million people | +8.0% |
| 2009 | 9.88 million people | +5.1% |
| 2010 | 10.38 million people | +5.1% |
| 2011 | 10.86 million people | +4.6% |
| 2012 | 11.49 million people | +5.7% |
| 2013 | 12.05 million people | +4.9% |
| 2014 | 12.53 million people | +4.0% |
| 2015 | 13.34 million people | +6.5% |
| 2016 | 14.03 million people | +5.1% |
| 2017 | 14.69 million people | +4.8% |
| 2018 | 15.43 million people | +5.0% |
| 2019 | 16.12 million people | +4.5% |
| 2020 | 16.85 million people | +4.6% |
| 2021 | 17.60 million people | +4.4% |
| 2022 | 19.62 million people | +11.5% |
| 2023 | 20.43 million people | +4.1% |
| 2024 | 20.97 million people | +2.6% |
Cameroon compared with similar countries
- Cameroon's 20.97 million people is above the median for lower middle income countries, which is 10.31 million people, 2.0× the median. (47 countries reporting)
- Cameroon's 20.97 million people is above the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 5.45 million people, 3.8× the median. (48 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 4.74 million people | 3.38 million people | 5.91 million people | 9 |
| 2000s | 7.99 million people | 6.11 million people | 9.88 million people | 10 |
| 2010s | 13.09 million people | 10.38 million people | 16.12 million people | 10 |
| 2020s | 19.09 million people | 16.85 million people | 20.97 million people | 5 |
Countries ranked near Cameroon
More energy & mining data for Cameroon
- Fossil fuel consumption by fuel, per capita 0 terawatt-hours per person (2024)
- 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)
- Primary energy use, per capita 0 terawatt-hours per person (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)
- Fuel imports 24.2% (2023)
Frequently asked questions
- What is number of people with and without electricity access in Cameroon?
- Number of people with and without electricity access in Cameroon was 20.97 million people in 2024, according to Data compiled from multiple sources by the World Bank – with major processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest number of people with and without electricity access recorded in Cameroon?
- The highest recorded value was 20.97 million people in 2024.
- What is the lowest number of people with and without electricity access recorded in Cameroon?
- The lowest recorded value was 3.38 million people in 1991.
- How does Cameroon rank for number of people with and without electricity access?
- Cameroon ranks 54th out of 214 countries with data for 2024.
- Is number of people with and without electricity access rising or falling in Cameroon?
- Over the last ten years it is up 67.4%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Cameroon data come from?
- The figures come from Data compiled from multiple sources by the World Bank – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Number of people with and without electricity access. 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
Access to electricity means having an electricity source that can provide very basic lighting, and charge a phone or power a radio for 4 hours per day.