Over 660 million people without electricity. And over 2 billion without clean cooking

Over 660 million people in the world still do not have access to electricity . This is what emerges from the report Tracking SDG 7: The Energy Progress Report 2025 , which photographs the progress towards the UN goal of universal access to energy by 2030. Despite the improvements recorded in recent years – today 92% of the global population has access to electricity – the current pace is insufficient to close the gap in the expected timeframe. The situation is especially critical in sub-Saharan Africa, where 85% of the people still excluded live.

Between 2020 and 2023, the greatest progress was made in Central and South Asia , which reduced the number of people without access from 414 million in 2010 to 27 million in 2023. But in 18 of the 20 countries with the largest electrification deficits, the crisis remains entrenched, and installed capacity per capita in many areas of sub-Saharan Africa does not exceed 40 watts, equal to one-eighth of the average of other developing countries.

The report - compiled by IEA, IRENA, UN DESA, World Bank and WHO - warns that the transition to clean cooking remains too slow. Today, 74% of the world's population has access to non-polluting cooking technologies and fuels , up from 64% in 2015. But over 2.1 billion people continue to use wood, coal or other polluting fuels, with serious health impacts linked to household pollution. Here too, Africa is the area most affected: four out of five families live here without access to clean cooking, and the absolute number continues to grow by 14 million people a year.

Acceleration would be possible through the spread of decentralized solutions – such as mini-grids and off-grid solar systems – which have proven to be scalable, quick to deploy, and suitable for rural and fragile contexts. The same goes for cooking: biogas plants and small electricity systems powered by renewables can replace harmful technologies and overcome the limitations of centralized networks.

The main obstacle to the energy transition in the most vulnerable countries is the lack of financing . Despite an increase in international flows for the third consecutive year – 21.6 billion dollars in 2023, +27% compared to 2022 – the figure remains well below the peaks of 2016 (28.4 billion), and most of the funds are concentrated in a few areas. Only two countries in sub-Saharan Africa are among the top five recipients. Furthermore, 83% of investments come in the form of debt, while grants represent less than 10%.

“Renewables are growing at record rates,” said Francesco La Camera, Director General of Irena , “but we need to accelerate, bridging infrastructure gaps and ensuring access to affordable and targeted capital.” La Camera warns that without strengthening international cooperation, particularly with less developed countries, the goals of Agenda 2030 risk remaining out of reach.

On the energy efficiency front, the report points to improvements that are still too slow. Global energy intensity, a key indicator of consumption relative to GDP, fell by 2.1% in 2022, a positive value but far from the SDG 7.3 target that requires an annual improvement of 4%. Here too, low-income economies show delays linked to the lack of support policies and adequate financial instruments.

In 2022, the share of renewable energy in final consumption reached 17.9% , while global installed capacity rose to 478 watts per capita in 2023, +13% compared to the previous year. But progress remains uneven: developed countries exceed 1,100 watts per inhabitant, while less advanced countries remain stuck at 40.

In order not to undermine the results achieved since 2015, the report calls for urgent action on several fronts : reforms in multilateral and bilateral lending mechanisms, greater mobilization of concessional finance and risk mitigation tools, more coherent national energy planning and, above all, a significant increase in risk tolerance on the part of donors. Without a decisive change of pace, the authors conclude, it will not be possible to guarantee either universal access to energy or compliance with global climate objectives.