Access to clean fuels and technologies for cooking, rural in South Africa
South Africa: Access to clean fuels and technologies for cooking, rural was 70.4% in 2023. ▲ Rising
Access to clean fuels and technologies for cooking, rural in South Africa, 2000–2023
Source: Tracking SDG 7: The Energy Progress Report, International Energy Agency (IEA), note: License: Creative Commons Attribution—NonCommercial 3.0 IGO (CC BY-NC 3.0 IGO). Measured in % of rural population.
Analysis
In 2023, access to clean fuels and technologies for cooking, rural in South Africa stood at 70.4%. That is the highest value across all 24 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is up 1.4% on the previous year and up 15.0% over ten years.
Over the whole period, access to clean fuels and technologies for cooking, rural in South Africa peaked at 70.4% in 2023 and was at its lowest, 30.2%, in 2000.
South Africa ranks 109th of 189 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 24 years of available data.
Access to clean fuels and technologies for cooking, rural in South Africa, year by year
| Year | % of rural population | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 30.2% | — |
| 2001 | 32.3% | +7.0% |
| 2002 | 34.8% | +7.7% |
| 2003 | 37.6% | +8.0% |
| 2004 | 40.0% | +6.4% |
| 2005 | 43.1% | +7.8% |
| 2006 | 45.7% | +6.0% |
| 2007 | 48.9% | +7.0% |
| 2008 | 51.5% | +5.3% |
| 2009 | 54.0% | +4.9% |
| 2010 | 56.0% | +3.7% |
| 2011 | 57.8% | +3.2% |
| 2012 | 59.6% | +3.1% |
| 2013 | 61.2% | +2.7% |
| 2014 | 62.2% | +1.7% |
| 2015 | 63.4% | +1.8% |
| 2016 | 64.5% | +1.7% |
| 2017 | 65.3% | +1.3% |
| 2018 | 66.4% | +1.6% |
| 2019 | 67.2% | +1.2% |
| 2020 | 68.2% | +1.5% |
| 2021 | 68.7% | +0.7% |
| 2022 | 69.4% | +1.0% |
| 2023 | 70.4% | +1.4% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 41.8% | 30.2% | 54.0% | 10 |
| 2010s | 62.4% | 56.0% | 67.2% | 10 |
| 2020s | 69.2% | 68.2% | 70.4% | 4 |
Countries ranked near South Africa
More environment data for South Africa
- Historical exposure to drought — Land soil moisture anomaly 5.46 Percentage change (2025)
- Historical exposure to drought — Cropland soil moisture anomaly 8.52 Percentage change (2025)
- Standard Deviation, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Standard Deviation 0.275 °C (2025)
- Temperature change 1.05 °C (2025)
- Value Added (Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing) — Value US$, 2015 -7.98 % change on previous year (2024)
- Value Added (Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing) — Value US$, 2015 0 million USD per US$ of GDP (2024)
- Value Added (Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing) — Value US$, 2015 0.0001 million USD per person (2024)
- Primary wood and paper products (export/import) — Import value 8.29 % change on previous year (2024)
- Primary wood and paper products (export/import) — Import value, per 0 1000 USD per US$ of GDP (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is access to clean fuels and technologies for cooking, rural in South Africa?
- Access to clean fuels and technologies for cooking, rural in South Africa was 70.4% in 2023, according to Tracking SDG 7: The Energy Progress Report, International Energy Agency (IEA), note: License: Creative Commons Attribution—NonCommercial 3.0 IGO (CC BY-NC 3.0 IGO).
- What is the highest access to clean fuels and technologies for cooking, rural recorded in South Africa?
- The highest recorded value was 70.4% in 2023.
- What is the lowest access to clean fuels and technologies for cooking, rural recorded in South Africa?
- The lowest recorded value was 30.2% in 2000.
- How does South Africa rank for access to clean fuels and technologies for cooking, rural?
- South Africa ranks 109th out of 189 countries with data for 2023.
- Is access to clean fuels and technologies for cooking, rural rising or falling in South Africa?
- Over the last ten years it is up 15.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this South Africa data come from?
- The figures come from Tracking SDG 7: The Energy Progress Report, International Energy Agency (IEA), note: License: Creative Commons Attribution—NonCommercial 3.0 IGO (CC BY-NC 3.0 IGO), published as part of Access to clean fuels and technologies for cooking, rural (% of rural population). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 24 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).
About this data
Access to clean fuels and technologies for cooking, rural is the proportion of rural population primarily using clean cooking fuels and technologies for cooking. Under WHO guidelines, kerosene is excluded from clean cooking fuels.