Number of people without access to electricity in Democratic Republic of Congo
Democratic Republic of Congo: Number of people without access to electricity was 84.69 million people in 2024. ▲ Rising
Number of people without access to electricity in Democratic Republic of Congo, 2000–2024
Source: Data compiled from multiple sources by the World Bank – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in people.
Analysis
Democratic Republic of Congo recorded 84.69 million people for number of people without access to electricity in 2024. That is the highest value across all 25 years on record.
That represents a change of up 2.8% on the previous year and up 24.9% over ten years.
Over the whole period, number of people without access to electricity in Democratic Republic of Congo peaked at 84.69 million people in 2024 and was at its lowest, 47.12 million people, in 2000.
That places Democratic Republic of Congo 2nd out of 214 countries with data for 2024, putting it in the top 10%.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 25 years of available data.
Number of people without access to electricity in Democratic Republic of Congo, year by year
| Year | people | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 47.12 million people | — |
| 2001 | 48.43 million people | +2.8% |
| 2002 | 49.61 million people | +2.4% |
| 2003 | 50.75 million people | +2.3% |
| 2004 | 51.87 million people | +2.2% |
| 2005 | 55.25 million people | +6.5% |
| 2006 | 54.43 million people | -1.5% |
| 2007 | 52.98 million people | -2.7% |
| 2008 | 56.92 million people | +7.4% |
| 2009 | 58.24 million people | +2.3% |
| 2010 | 59.65 million people | +2.4% |
| 2011 | 61.14 million people | +2.5% |
| 2012 | 61.97 million people | +1.4% |
| 2013 | 64.27 million people | +3.7% |
| 2014 | 67.82 million people | +5.5% |
| 2015 | 67.58 million people | -0.3% |
| 2016 | 69.43 million people | +2.7% |
| 2017 | 71.41 million people | +2.8% |
| 2018 | 73.21 million people | +2.5% |
| 2019 | 75.19 million people | +2.7% |
| 2020 | 76.70 million people | +2.0% |
| 2021 | 78.53 million people | +2.4% |
| 2022 | 80.38 million people | +2.4% |
| 2023 | 82.41 million people | +2.5% |
| 2024 | 84.69 million people | +2.8% |
Democratic Republic of Congo compared with similar countries
- Democratic Republic of Congo's 84.69 million people is above the median for low income countries, which is 11.22 million people, 7.5× the median. (25 countries reporting)
- Democratic Republic of Congo's 84.69 million people is above the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 6.10 million people, 13.9× the median. (48 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 52.56 million people | 47.12 million people | 58.24 million people | 10 |
| 2010s | 67.17 million people | 59.65 million people | 75.19 million people | 10 |
| 2020s | 80.54 million people | 76.70 million people | 84.69 million people | 5 |
Countries ranked near Democratic Republic of Congo
More energy & mining data for Democratic Republic of Congo
- Fossil fuel consumption by fuel, per unit of GDP 0 terawatt-hours per US$ of GDP (2024)
- Primary energy use, annual growth rate 0.4362 % 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 36.5% (2023)
- Ores and metals imports 7.9% (2023)
Frequently asked questions
- What is number of people without access to electricity in Democratic Republic of Congo?
- Number of people without access to electricity in Democratic Republic of Congo was 84.69 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 without access to electricity recorded in Democratic Republic of Congo?
- The highest recorded value was 84.69 million people in 2024.
- What is the lowest number of people without access to electricity recorded in Democratic Republic of Congo?
- The lowest recorded value was 47.12 million people in 2000.
- How does Democratic Republic of Congo rank for number of people without access to electricity?
- Democratic Republic of Congo ranks 2nd out of 214 countries with data for 2024.
- Is number of people without access to electricity rising or falling in Democratic Republic of Congo?
- Over the last ten years it is up 24.9%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Democratic Republic of Congo 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 without access to electricity. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 25 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.