According to the most recent data from the World Bank, 15 per cent of the world’s population—approximately 1.1 billion people—lacked access to electricity in 2014, according to a U.S. Energy Information Administration press release.
However, access to electricity has been generally increasing over the past two decades. In 1994, approximately 25 per cent of the world’s population lacked access to electricity.
Part of the increased share electricity share is attributable to the faster rate of population growth in urban areas; the share of the world’s population living in urban areas grew from 44 per cent in 1994 to 53 per cent in 2014.
