Botswana: Access to electricity, urban (% of urban population)

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2024, Botswana's access to electricity, urban (% of urban population) fell 1 percentage points on 2023 (from 97.7% to 96.7%).

Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1994 to 2023), the average change was +2.56 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 1.65 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 2.2 standard deviations below that average, so it was unusually large compared with the rest of the record.

On record, the biggest yearly rise was 7.4 percentage points in 2010 and the biggest yearly fall was 2.2 percentage points in 2001. The numbers show how large and when, not why; for the cause, look at what happened in that country in those years.

From 2015 to 2024 the straight-line trend is upward, about 2.15 percentage points a year. A straight line explains 98% of the movement over 10 observed years.

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

A straight-line projection, tested first

Extending that straight line gives about 105.47% for 2027. We show this only because the same method, fitted on earlier years, predicted 2022 to 2024 better than "no change" would have: its average miss was 1.21%, against 3.53% for assuming no change. Treat it as a continuation of the recent pattern, not a forecast of events: it cannot see a recession, a policy change or a revision to the data.

See how a linear trend forecast works and the guide on forecasting without fooling yourself.

How it compares

In 2024, Botswana had the 165th highest value of the 212 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 Botswana in the 2024 ranking

• Marshall Islands — 162nd of 212: 97.4%
• Afghanistan — 163rd of 212: 97%
• Kiribati — 164th of 212: 97%
• Togo — 166th of 212: 96%
• Senegal — 167th of 212: 95.7%
• Cameroon — 168th of 212: 95.6%

What this measures

Access to electricity, urban is the percentage of urban population with access to electricity.

Regional and income-group figures are computed by the World Bank as a weighted average.

All 34 values

Access to electricity, urban (% of urban population) in nearby economies

• Angola — 78% (2024)
• Benin — 71.6% (2024)
• Burkina Faso — 87.8% (2024)
• Burundi — 70% (2024)
• Cabo Verde — 98.6% (2024)
• Cameroon — 95.6% (2024)
• Central African Republic — 38.8% (2024)
• Chad — 51% (2024)
• Comoros — 98.5% (2024)
• Congo, Dem. Rep.

More environment data for Botswana

• Rural population — 821,007 (2025)
• Rural population (% of total population) — 32.04% (2025)
• Urban population — 1.74 million (2025)
• Urban population (% of total population) — 67.96% (2025)
• Aquaculture production (metric tons) — 156 (2024)
• Capture fisheries production (metric tons) — 40 (2024)
• Total fisheries production (metric tons) — 196 (2024)
• Rural population growth (annual %) — 0.08% (2025)
• Urban population growth (annual %) — 2.34% (2025)
• Agricultural land (sq. km) — 258,615 (2024)

Reading data like this

• Where to find free public data, and how to check it before you trust it — 2 min read
• Data analysis examples: 6 worked from one dataset — 3 min read
• Real change or random noise? A plain guide to reading your numbers — 2 min read

Questions people ask

What is Botswana's access to electricity, urban (% of urban population)?

96.7% in 2024, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1991?

It is up 79.2 percentage points from 17.5% in 1991. The highest value was 97.7% in 2023 and the lowest 17.5% in 1991.

Source

World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator EG.ELC.ACCS.UR.ZS, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: SDG 7.1.1 Electrification Dataset, World Bank (WB), uri: https://trackingsdg7.esmap.org/downloads, note: Data is downloaded from ESMAP website. Data is released when a new Tracking SDG7 report is released., publisher: World Bank (WB), date accessed: 2024-05-16, date published: 2023 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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