Mauritania: Access to electricity (% of population)

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2024, Mauritania's access to electricity (% of population) rose 1.9 percentage points on 2023 (from 50.3% to 52.2%).

Across the 23 yearly changes before that (2001 to 2023), the average change was +1.36 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 2.73 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.2 standard deviations above 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 8.8 percentage points in 2006 and the biggest yearly fall was 6.1 percentage points in 2005. 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 1.34 percentage points a year. A straight line explains 99% 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 55.48% 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 0.83%, against 2.8% 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, Mauritania had the 200th highest value of the 215 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 Mauritania in the 2024 ranking

• Zambia — 197th of 215: 53.6%
• Congo, Rep. — 198th of 215: 53%
• Tanzania — 199th of 215: 52.4%
• Mali — 201st of 215: 49.5%
• Guinea-Bissau — 202nd of 215: 43.7%
• Papua New Guinea — 203rd of 215: 43.3%

What this measures

Access to electricity is the percentage of population with access to electricity. Electrification data are collected from industry, national surveys and international sources.

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

All 25 values

Access to electricity (% of population) in nearby economies

• Angola — 55.5% (2024)
• Benin — 59% (2024)
• Botswana — 80.2% (2024)
• Burkina Faso — 34% (2024)
• Burundi — 20.1% (2024)
• Cabo Verde — 98.4% (2024)
• Cameroon — 72% (2024)
• Central African Republic — 18.2% (2024)
• Chad — 13.4% (2024)
• Comoros — 91.7% (2024)
• Congo, Dem. Rep.

More environment data for Mauritania

• Population in largest city — 1.61 million (2025)
• Population in the largest city (% of urban population) — 49.35% (2025)
• Population in urban agglomerations of more than 1 million — 1.61 million (2025)
• Population in urban agglomerations of more than 1 million (% of total population) — 30.35% (2025)
• Rural population — 2.05 million (2025)
• Rural population (% of total population) — 38.51% (2025)
• Urban population — 3.27 million (2025)
• Urban population (% of total population) — 61.49% (2025)
• Aquaculture production (metric tons) — 0 (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 Mauritania's access to electricity (% of population)?

52.2% in 2024, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 2000?

It is up 33.1 percentage points from 19.1% in 2000. The highest value was 52.2% in 2024 and the lowest 18.2% in 2005.

Source

World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator EG.ELC.ACCS.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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