Papua New Guinea's access to electricity, urban (% of urban population) was 66.8% in 2024, the latest year in the World Bank's World Development Indicators. That is down 0.3 percentage points from 67.1% in 2014.
Key figures
| Value | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| Latest | 66.8% | 2024 |
| Five years earlier | 66% | 2019 |
| Ten years earlier | 67.1% | 2014 |
| Highest | 71.2% | 2010 |
| Lowest | 57% | 2018 |
| Average since 2015 | 64.81% | 2015–2024 |
| First recorded | 63.1% | 1996 |
What the numbers say
In 2024, Papua New Guinea's access to electricity, urban (% of urban population) rose 1.6 percentage points on 2023 (from 65.2% to 66.8%).
Across the 27 yearly changes before that (1997 to 2023), the average change was +0.08 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 2.92 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.5 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 9 percentage points in 2019 and the biggest yearly fall was 8.3 percentage points in 2018. 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 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 2024, Papua New Guinea had the 204th 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.
| Value | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| Papua New Guinea | 66.8% | 2024 |
| World | 97.76% | 2024 |
| East Asia & Pacific | 99.9% | 2024 |
| Lower middle income | 96.24% | 2024 |
Closest to Papua New Guinea in the 2024 ranking
- Benin — 201st of 212: 71.6%
- Burundi — 202nd of 212: 70%
- Niger — 203rd of 212: 69.1%
- Guinea-Bissau — 205th of 212: 65.6%
- Malawi — 206th of 212: 59.5%
- Sierra Leone — 207th of 212: 56.4%
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 29 values
| Year | Access to electricity, urban (% of urban population) |
|---|---|
| 2024 | 66.8 |
| 2023 | 65.2 |
| 2022 | 65.1 |
| 2021 | 65.2 |
| 2020 | 65.2 |
| 2019 | 66 |
| 2018 | 57 |
| 2017 | 65.3 |
| 2016 | 66.2 |
| 2015 | 66.1 |
| 2014 |
Access to electricity, urban (% of urban population) in nearby economies
- Australia — 100% (2024)
- Brunei Darussalam — 100% (2024)
- Cambodia — 100% (2024)
- China — 100% (2024)
- Fiji — 98.2% (2024)
- French Polynesia — 100% (2024)
- Guam — 100% (2024)
- Hong Kong SAR, China — 100% (2024)
- Indonesia — 100% (2024)
- Japan
More environment data for Papua New Guinea
- Population in largest city — 431,903 (2025)
- Population in the largest city (% of urban population) — 25.43% (2025)
- Rural population — 9.06 million (2025)
- Rural population (% of total population) — 84.22% (2025)
- Urban population — 1.7 million (2025)
- Urban population (% of total population) — 15.78% (2025)
- Aquaculture production (metric tons) — 2,552 (2024)
- Capture fisheries production (metric tons) — 342,808 (2024)
- Total fisheries production (metric tons) — 345,360 (2024)
- Rural population growth (annual %)
Reading data like this
Questions people ask
- What is Papua New Guinea's access to electricity, urban (% of urban population)?
- 66.8% in 2024, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).
- How has it changed since 1996?
- It is up 3.7 percentage points from 63.1% in 1996. The highest value was 71.2% in 2010 and the lowest 57% in 2018.
- How does Papua New Guinea rank?
- 204th highest of 212 economies with data for 2024.
- Is the latest change in access to electricity, urban (% of urban population) unusual for Papua New Guinea?
- In 2024, Papua New Guinea's access to electricity, urban (% of urban population) rose 1.6 percentage points on 2023 (from 65.2% to 66.8%). Across the 27 yearly changes before that (1997 to 2023), the average change was +0.08 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 2.92 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.5 standard deviations above 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.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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