Identifying electricity access gaps at a hyperlocal level

UNDP, in partnership with University of Michigan, has used high-resolution satellite imagery to complement household derived information on electricity access at subnational level for more than 100 countries. By monitoring and comparing how strong the night-time light of a specific settlement is in relation to other areas around the globe, the approach uses a statistical model to calculate the likelihood of a human settlement to be electrified. Unlike household surveys, satellite data allows to rapidly capture the evolution, quality and frequency of electrification. Based on this approach, the number of people that lacks access to reliable electricity services overpasses 1 billion – a much larger figure than the official count of 675 million lacking electricity access. This suggests that not all those classified as having access actually benefit from electricity.

The lack of electricity access observed by satellites corroborates trends and evidence from across the energy sector: most of the world’s poor live in areas that are more remote, less densely populated, and more rugged than well-electrified areas – such as Sub-Saharan Africa. This region hosts about 572 million people living without reliable access to electricity — nearly 57% of the global population living in the dark. Progress must be significantly accelerated and better targeted to meet the electricity demands of the poorest and most vulnerable populations.