Access to electricity in South Africa
Access to electricity is the percentage of population with access to electricity. Electrification data are collected from industry, national surveys and international sources.
+2.50 pp from 2023
% · World Bank World Development Indicators · Missing observations remain gaps.
Underlying data
Download CSV| Year | Value | Status & source note |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Not available | missing |
| 2024 | 90.2 | present |
| 2023 | 87.7 | present |
| 2022 | 86.5 | present |
| 2021 | 89.3 | present |
| 2020 | 90 | present |
| 2019 | 85 | present |
| 2018 | 84.7 | present |
| 2017 | 84.4 | present |
| 2016 | 83.9 | present |
| 2015 | 85.3 | present |
| 2014 | 85.9 | present |
| 2013 | 85.2 | present |
| 2012 | 85.2 | present |
| 2011 | 83.6 | present |
| 2010 | 82.8 | present |
| 2009 | 82.6 | present |
| 2008 | 81.9 | present |
| 2007 | 82 | present |
| 2006 | 80.7 | present |
| 2005 | 80.8 | present |
| 2004 | 80.6 | present |
| 2003 | 78.8 | present |
| 2002 | 76.7 | present |
| 2001 | 70.2 | present |
| 2000 | 72.4 | present |
Definition & method
Methodology: The World Bank’s Global Electrification Database (GED) compiles nationally representative household survey data, and occasionally census data, from sources going back as far as 1990. The database also incorporates data from the Socio-Economic Database for Latin America and the Caribbean (SEDLAC), Middle East and North Africa Poverty Database (MNAPOV) and the Europe and Central Asia Poverty Database (ECAPOV), which are based on similar surveys. At the time of this analysis, the GED contained 1,375 surveys for 149 countries in 1990-2021.
What to keep in mind
- Access does not measure supply reliability, affordability or electricity consumption. Estimates may interpolate survey and census evidence.
- Annual 2000–2025 selection. Source estimates and historical values may be revised; unavailable values remain missing.