In 2024, the global access rate remained at 92 per cent, leaving 655 million people without electricity, only 11.5 million fewer than in 2023. Since 2020, average annual gains have fallen to around 0.35 percentage points, half the pace achieved between 2010 and 2020. Access is projected to grow only marginally by 2030, to 92.5 per cent. Regional disparities persist: while Central and Southern Asia has nearly closed its access gap, sub-Saharan Africa’s gap remains substantial and accounts for 86 per cent of people without electricity worldwide. Individuals living without electricity are increasingly likely to be low-income, in remote rural areas, or to live in fragile and conflict-affected settings.

Closing the access gap in these challenging geographies requires accelerated uptake of distributed renewable energy technologies, such as off-grid solar solutions and mini-grids, which are especially suited for low-income and remote areas. This in turn requires increased investment, deploying funds as efficiently as possible and implementing policies ensuring affordable access.

Access to clean cooking fuels and technologies has grown steadily since 2015, reaching 75 per cent globally in 2024, up 11 percentage points. A significant milestone marks this progress: 1 billion fewer people lived in households mainly relying on polluting fuels and technologies for cooking in 2024 than in 2010. However, some regions are advancing faster than others, risking an uneven global transition. Most of the reduction in the global access deficit has taken place in Central and Southern Asia and Eastern and South-Eastern Asia. This deficit has grown in other regions, with sub-Saharan Africa facing the most pressing challenge: only 22 per cent of people had access to clean cooking fuels and technologies in 2024.

Projections suggest that only 79 per cent of the global population will have access to clean cooking by 2030, leaving approximately 1.8 billion people still relying on polluting fuels and technologies. Meeting universal access requires strengthened political demand and commitment, improved technical capacity and ensuring that no region falls behind.

The proportion of renewable energy in global final energy consumption rose from 15.6 per cent in 2015 to 18.0 per cent in 2023, with modern renewables up from 10.2 to 13.4 per cent. Renewable energy use expanded throughout all end-use sectors, with particularly notable progress observed in electricity. Renewables supplied over 30 per cent of global electricity consumption in 2023, up from 23 per cent in 2015. These increases were largely driven by additions of solar and wind photovoltaic capacity, though hydropower remains the largest source of renewable electricity at close to 15 per cent of global consumption. Renewable heating reached 21.4 per cent, while transport lagged at 4.3 per cent, though renewable energy use in transport recorded the fastest growth between 2022 and 2023, increasing by nearly 12 per cent.

Renewable energy use continues to grow but not at the scale needed to achieve international energy, climate and development objectives. Accelerated action across all sectors, particularly in heat and transport, supported by robust policies and investment, is crucial to closing the gap and delivering affordable and sustainable energy for all.

Installed renewable energy-generating capacity reached a record global high in 2024, with the largest annual increase to date, reaching 544 watts per person. This growth was driven mainly by developing countries, which recorded a compound average growth rate of 13 per cent over the last five years, compared to 8 per cent in developed countries. The share of installed renewable energy capacity in developing countries stood at 47 per cent in 2024 compared to 45 per cent in developed countries.

Despite this progress, disparities remain stark. In 2024, high-income and upper-middle-income countries reached 1,224 and 808 watts per person, respectively, compared to just 117 watts per person for lower-middle-income countries and 34 watts per person for low-income countries. Eastern and South-Eastern Asia led regional growth over the past decade with a near fourfold increase. Oceania, sub-Saharan Africa, SIDS, LDCs and LLDCs all recorded below-average growth rates and risk being left behind. Without accelerated deployment of cost-effective renewable solutions across all countries, these disparities will widen and undermine a global just energy transition.