Lao PDR's access to electricity, rural (% of rural population) was 94.2% in 2024, the latest year in the World Bank's World Development Indicators. That is up 19.2 percentage points from 75% in 2014.
Key figures
| Value | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| Latest | 94.2% | 2024 |
| Five years earlier | 97.6% | 2019 |
| Ten years earlier | 75% | 2014 |
| Highest | 100% | 2021 |
| Lowest | 10.17% | 1995 |
| Average since 2015 | 93.56% | 2015–2024 |
| First recorded | 17.97% | 1993 |
What the numbers say
In 2024, Lao PDR's access to electricity, rural (% of rural population) fell 1 percentage points on 2023 (from 95.2% to 94.2%).
Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1994 to 2023), the average change was +2.57 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 4.64 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.8 standard deviations below that average, so it was an ordinary year: it sits within the range of normal year-to-year movement.
On record, the biggest yearly rise was 14.4 percentage points in 2008 and the biggest yearly fall was 6.5 percentage points in 1994. 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 1.43 percentage points a year. A straight line explains 54% 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.
How it compares
In 2024, Lao PDR had the 141st highest value of the 208 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.
| Value | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| Lao PDR | 94.2% | 2024 |
| World | 84.89% | 2024 |
| East Asia & Pacific | 97.32% | 2024 |
| Lower middle income | 88.04% | 2024 |
Closest to Lao PDR in the 2024 ranking
What this measures
Access to electricity, rural is the percentage of rural population with access to electricity.
Regional and income-group figures are computed by the World Bank as a weighted average.
All 32 values
| Year | Access to electricity, rural (% of rural population) |
|---|---|
| 2024 | 94.2 |
| 2023 | 95.2 |
| 2022 | 100 |
| 2021 | 100 |
| 2020 | 99 |
| 2019 | 97.6 |
| 2018 | 89.3 |
| 2017 | 90.5 |
| 2016 | 84.1 |
| 2015 | 85.7 |
| 2014 |
Access to electricity, rural (% of rural population) in nearby economies
- Australia — 100% (2024)
- Brunei Darussalam — 100% (2024)
- Cambodia — 98.6% (2024)
- China — 100% (2024)
- Fiji — 92.5% (2024)
- French Polynesia — 100% (2024)
- Guam — 100% (2024)
- Hong Kong SAR, China — 100% (2024)
- Indonesia — 99.7% (2024)
- Japan
More environment data for Lao PDR
- Population in largest city — 755,941 (2025)
- Population in the largest city (% of urban population) — 23.82% (2025)
- Rural population — 4.7 million (2025)
- Rural population (% of total population) — 59.69% (2025)
- Urban population — 3.17 million (2025)
- Urban population (% of total population) — 40.31% (2025)
- Aquaculture production (metric tons) — 153,504 (2024)
- Capture fisheries production (metric tons) — 78,795 (2024)
- Total fisheries production (metric tons) — 232,299 (2024)
- Rural population growth (annual %) — 0.06% (2025)
Reading data like this
Questions people ask
- What is Lao PDR's access to electricity, rural (% of rural population)?
- 94.2% in 2024, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).
- How has it changed since 1993?
- It is up 76.23 percentage points from 17.97% in 1993. The highest value was 100% in 2021 and the lowest 10.17% in 1995.
- How does Lao PDR rank?
- 141st highest of 208 economies with data for 2024.
- Is the latest change in access to electricity, rural (% of rural population) unusual for Lao PDR?
- In 2024, Lao PDR's access to electricity, rural (% of rural population) fell 1 percentage points on 2023 (from 95.2% to 94.2%). Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1994 to 2023), the average change was +2.57 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 4.64 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.8 standard deviations below that average, so it was an ordinary year: it sits within the range of normal year-to-year movement.
Source
World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator EG.ELC.ACCS.RU.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.
Want to ask your own questions of data like this? Try AnalyzeIt: upload a file or ask about public data in plain words, and every figure comes with its working.
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