Rwanda: Electricity production from coal sources (% of total)

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2024, Rwanda's electricity production from coal sources (% of total) rose 1.8 percentage points on 2023 (from 14.31% to 16.11%).

Across the 23 yearly changes before that (2001 to 2023), the average change was +0.62 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 1.77 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.7 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 7.73 percentage points in 2022 and the biggest yearly fall was 1.25 percentage points in 2019. 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 1.65 percentage points a year. A straight line explains 76% 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, Rwanda had the 35th highest value of the 50 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 Rwanda in the 2024 ranking

• Russian Federation — 31st of 50: 18.24%
• Zambia — 32nd of 50: 17.39%
• Pakistan — 33rd of 50: 16.82%
• Thailand — 35th of 50: 15.48%
• Jordan — 36th of 50: 14.42%
• Romania — 37th of 50: 13.29%

What this measures

The share of electricity production from coal sources of total electricity production. Sources of electricity refer to the inputs used to generate electricity. Coal refers to all coal and brown coal, both primary (including hard coal and lignite-brown coal) and derived fuels (including patent fuel, coke oven coke, gas coke, coke oven gas, and blast furnace gas). Peat is also included in this category.

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.

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

All 25 values

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

• Angola — 0% (2021)
• Benin — 0% (2021)
• Botswana — 95.44% (2024)
• Burkina Faso — 0% (2021)
• Burundi — 0% (2021)
• Cabo Verde — 0% (2021)
• Cameroon — 0% (2021)
• Central African Republic — 0% (2021)
• Chad — 0% (2021)
• Comoros

More environment data for Rwanda

• Population in largest city — 1.33 million (2025)
• Population in the largest city (% of urban population) — 29.53% (2025)
• Population in urban agglomerations of more than 1 million — 1.33 million (2025)
• Population in urban agglomerations of more than 1 million (% of total population) — 9.13% (2025)
• Rural population — 10.07 million (2025)
• Rural population (% of total population) — 69.09% (2025)
• Urban population — 4.5 million (2025)
• Urban population (% of total population) — 30.91% (2025)
• Aquaculture production (metric tons) — 8,392 (2024)
• Capture fisheries production (metric tons)

Reading data like this

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Questions people ask

What is Rwanda's electricity production from coal sources (% of total)?

16.11% in 2024, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 2000?

It is up 16.11 percentage points from 0% in 2000. The highest value was 16.11% in 2024 and the lowest 0% in 2000.

How does Rwanda rank?

35th highest of 50 economies with data for 2024.

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

In 2024, Rwanda's electricity production from coal sources (% of total) rose 1.8 percentage points on 2023 (from 14.31% to 16.11%). Across the 23 yearly changes before that (2001 to 2023), the average change was +0.62 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 1.77 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.7 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.COAL.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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