Afghanistan: Electricity production from oil sources (% of total)

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2021, Afghanistan's electricity production from oil sources (% of total) rose 8.89 percentage points on 2020 (from 12.88% to 21.77%).

Across the 20 yearly changes before that (2001 to 2020), the average change was +0.32 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 6.79 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 1.3 standard deviations above that average, so it was larger than a typical year, though not out of the range seen before.

On record, the biggest yearly rise was 17.77 percentage points in 2004 and the biggest yearly fall was 12.92 percentage points in 2009. The numbers show how large and when, not why; for the cause, look at what happened in that country in those years.

From 2012 to 2021 there is no clear straight-line trend: a straight line explains 2% of the movement over 10 observed years, so the value is moving around more than it is heading anywhere.

Worked out from the yearly values above. How the checks work: standard deviation, z-scores and straight-line trends.

How it compares

In 2021, Afghanistan had the 52nd highest value of the 70 economies reporting that year. Higher is not always better: for some indicators the lowest value is the one to aim for. See the full ranking.

Closest to Afghanistan in the 2021 ranking

• Papua New Guinea — 49th of 70: 33.2%
• Sierra Leone — 50th of 70: 24.72%
• Greenland — 51st of 70: 22.96%
• Malawi — 53rd of 70: 19.94%
• Guinea — 54th of 70: 11.87%
• Belize — 55th of 70: 7.14%

What this measures

The share of electricity production from oil sources of total electricity production. Sources of electricity refer to the inputs used to generate electricity. Oil refers to crude oil and petroleum products.

Limitations: IEA occasionally revises its time series to reflect political changes. For example, the IEA has constructed historical energy statistics for countries of the former Soviet Union. In addition, energy statistics for other countries have undergone continuous changes in coverage or methodology in recent years as more detailed energy accounts have become available. Breaks in series are therefore unavoidable. Data on access to electricity are collected by the IEA from industry, national surveys, and international sources.

Regional and income-group figures are computed by the World Bank as a weighted average using total electricity production as weights.

All 22 values

Electricity production from oil sources (% of total) in nearby economies

• Algeria — 0.27% (2024)
• Bahrain — 0.00256% (2024)
• Djibouti — 64.65% (2021)
• Egypt, Arab Rep. — 10.04% (2024)
• Iran, Islamic Rep. — 14.29% (2024)
• Iraq — 45.14% (2024)
• Israel — 0.6% (2025)
• Jordan — 3.5% (2024)
• Kuwait — 37.25% (2024)
• Lebanon

More environment data for Afghanistan

• Population in largest city — 4.88 million (2025)
• Population in the largest city (% of urban population) — 42.88% (2025)
• Population in urban agglomerations of more than 1 million — 4.88 million (2025)
• Population in urban agglomerations of more than 1 million (% of total population) — 11.12% (2025)
• Rural population — 32.47 million (2025)
• Rural population (% of total population) — 74.06% (2025)
• Urban population — 11.37 million (2025)
• Urban population (% of total population) — 25.94% (2025)
• Aquaculture production (metric tons) — 12,170 (2024)

Reading data like this

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Questions people ask

What is Afghanistan's electricity production from oil sources (% of total)?

21.77% in 2021, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 2000?

It is up 15.3 percentage points from 6.46% in 2000. The highest value was 37.14% in 2004 and the lowest 6.46% in 2002.

How does Afghanistan rank?

52nd highest of 70 economies with data for 2021.

Is the latest change in electricity production from oil sources (% of total) unusual for Afghanistan?

In 2021, Afghanistan's electricity production from oil sources (% of total) rose 8.89 percentage points on 2020 (from 12.88% to 21.77%). Across the 20 yearly changes before that (2001 to 2020), the average change was +0.32 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 6.79 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 1.3 standard deviations above that average, so it was larger than a typical year, though not out of the range seen before.

Source

World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator EG.ELC.PETR.ZS, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: IEA Energy Statistics Data Browser, International Energy Agency (IEA), uri: https://www.iea.org/data-and-statistics/data-tools/energy-statistics-data-browser, publisher: International Energy Agency (IEA), date accessed: 2025-03-25 Figures are fetched from the World Bank API and refreshed monthly; see the series on data.worldbank.org. The full definition and method are in the World Bank's metadata glossary. Comparisons use the same World Bank release.

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