SDG7 report finds 655 million people still lack electricity
The 2026 SDG7 energy progress report finds 655 million people without electricity and 2 billion without clean cooking fuels.
Photo by fahri tokcan on Pexels
The 2026 SDG7 energy progress report, released on June 24, 2026, found that 655 million people still live without electricity and two billion cook with polluting fuels, leaving the world off track to meet the global goal of universal, affordable, clean energy by 2030. Published by the five SDG 7 custodian agencies, the report carries new 2023 and 2024 data and warns that progress in Sub-Saharan Africa has slowed sharply. The agencies are the International Energy Agency (IEA), the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA), the World Bank, and the World Health Organization (WHO).
The headline gap is large, but the report also records gains. Renewable energy now supplies more than 30 per cent of global electricity consumption, and renewable generating capacity reached a record 544 watts per person, enough to power a refrigerator. The picture is one of progress in aggregate alongside a widening shortfall for the poorest countries.
What the SDG7 energy progress report found
The report, “Tracking SDG 7: The Energy Progress Report”, tracks four pillars: electricity access, clean cooking, renewable energy, and energy efficiency, plus the international finance that supports them. The global electricity access rate stalled at 92 per cent in 2024, with annual growth roughly half its pace in the previous decade. Clean cooking remains the largest gap, affecting around a quarter of the world’s population.
| Indicator | Latest figure | Detail |
|---|---|---|
| People without electricity | 655 million | 2024; access rate stalled at 92% |
| People without clean cooking | 2 billion | About a quarter of the world’s population |
| Renewable share of electricity | over 30% | Share in heat and transport remains limited |
| Renewable capacity per person | 544 watts | Global record; 33.6 W in low-income countries |
| Energy-intensity improvement rate | 1.5% | Down from 2.4% in 2022 (2023 data) |
| Clean-energy finance to developing countries | US$24.6 billion | Up from US$24.4 billion in 2023 |
| Finance to least developed countries | US$3.7 billion | Down 11% from 2023 |
Source: “Tracking SDG 7: The Energy Progress Report” (IEA, IRENA, UN DESA, World Bank, WHO), June 24, 2026.
The renewable build-out is uneven. Capacity per person stood at just 33.6 watts in low-income countries against 1,224 watts in high-income countries, a gap of more than 36 to 1.
The Sub-Saharan Africa gap
Sub-Saharan Africa carries a disproportionate share of both gaps. The region accounts for more than 560 million people without electricity and 970 million without clean cooking. The rural shortfall is growing rather than shrinking: the number of people in rural Sub-Saharan Africa without electricity rose from 376 million in 2010 to 447 million in 2024. To reach universal access by 2030, the report states the global pace of electrification must triple to 1.3 per cent a year.
Off-grid options are part of the answer. The agencies described distributed renewable solutions, including off-grid solar and mini-grids, as a cost-effective route to electricity access that already serves hundreds of millions of people, an approach Winss Solutions has examined through microgrids that deliver reliable, localized energy in places the main grid does not reach.
Clean cooking, the largest gap
Two billion people still rely on charcoal, wood, kerosene and coal for cooking. The divide is mostly urban versus rural: 89 per cent of urban residents have clean cooking access against 56 per cent in rural areas. Without stronger action, the report projects 1.8 billion people could still depend on polluting fuels in 2030, and the number of people in Sub-Saharan Africa without clean cooking could reach one billion by 2027. The health toll is heavy. Household air pollution from cooking fuels is responsible for around 3 million deaths a year.
“Universal access to clean and sustainable energy is not merely an energy challenge; it is a fundamental health imperative,” said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General, pointing to the burden on women and girls who spend hours gathering fuel.
Finance is too thin and tilted to debt
Money is the binding constraint. International public financial flows for clean energy to developing countries edged up to US$24.6 billion in 2024 from US$24.4 billion in 2023, while flows to the least developed countries fell 11 per cent to US$3.7 billion. The mix is also weighted toward repayable debt. In 2024, debt-based financing made up about 80 per cent of these flows, grants 13 per cent, risk guarantees 5 per cent, and equity 2 per cent.
Energy efficiency is also lagging. The rate of energy-intensity improvement fell from 2.4 per cent in 2022 to 1.5 per cent in 2023, with primary energy intensity at 3.76 megajoules per US dollar, below the pace the SDG 7 targets require. The agencies frame faster renewable deployment as a route to both energy security and lower costs, the same case Winss Solutions set out in the future of green energy: trends and predictions.
IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol pointed to the longer arc of progress. “Since 2010, 1.5 billion people have gained access to clean cooking and 800 million have gained access to electricity, showing that with the right policies, progress is possible,” he stated. The wider shift toward clean systems is one Winss Solutions tracks in 24 bold sustainability trends to watch in 2025 and 2026.
About Tracking SDG 7
“Tracking SDG 7: The Energy Progress Report” is the official annual scorecard for Sustainable Development Goal 7, which calls for affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all by 2030. It is produced jointly by the IEA, IRENA, the UN DESA Statistics Division, the World Bank and the WHO, and acts as a global dashboard on energy access, energy efficiency, renewable energy and international cooperation. The 2026 edition was chaired by UN DESA, and funding for the report came from the World Bank’s Energy Sector Management Assistance Program (ESMAP). The agencies will present the findings to decision-makers at a special launch event on July 8, 2026, after the in-depth review of SDG 7 at the High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development in New York, the venue where governments will weigh how to close the gaps the report documents.
Sources: World Health Organization; Tracking SDG 7 (IEA, IRENA, UN DESA, World Bank, WHO); International Energy Agency
Featured image: photo by fahri tokcan on Pexels (free Pexels license).
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I specialize in sustainability education, curriculum co-creation, and early-stage project strategy. At WINSS, I craft articles on sustainability, transformative AI, and related topics. When I’m not writing, you’ll find me chasing the perfect sushi roll, exploring cities around the globe, or unwinding with my dog Puffy — the world’s most loyal sidekick.
