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Only 21 percent of Sub-Saharan Africa could cook with clean fuels in 2023

About 955 million people in Sub-Saharan Africa still cooked with wood, charcoal, dung or kerosene in 2023, and the rural-urban gap is wide.

Updated October 2026 · Data year 2023 for Sub-Saharan Africa access figures and the global total. WHO Sub-Saharan Africa headcount of 923 million is 2022.

Figure 1

About 955 million people in Sub-Saharan Africa still cooked with wood, charcoal, dung or kerosene in 2023, and the rural-urban gap is wide.

42%

Urban · % of population with access to clean cooking

Source: IEA, IRENA, UNSD, World Bank, WHO (Tracking SDG7), World Health Organization · 2023 for Sub-Saharan Africa access figures and the global total. WHO Sub-Saharan Africa headcount of 923 million is 2022. · All figures are for 2023 from Tracking SDG7: The Energy Progress Report 2025 [S1]. The overall rate has a 95 percent uncertainty interval of 19 to 24 percent.

In 2023 just 21 percent of people in Sub-Saharan Africa had access to clean cooking, against about 79 percent who still burned wood, charcoal, dung or kerosene [S1]. The split is stark: 42 percent of urban residents had access but only 7 percent of rural ones [S1]. That left roughly 955 million people in the region without clean cooking, out of about 2.1 billion worldwide [S1]. Sub-Saharan Africa is the only region where the absolute number without access keeps rising, growing by about 14 million a year as population outpaces new connections [S1]. The honest caveat: the 21 percent figure carries an uncertainty range of 19 to 24 percent.

Takeaways

Clean cooking access in Sub-Saharan Africa was 21 percent in 2023, Tracking SDG7 [S1].
About 955 million people in the region lacked clean cooking in 2023, of 2.1 billion globally [S1].
Rural access was 7 percent versus 42 percent in urban areas [S1].
It is the only region where the number without access is still growing, by about 14 million a year [S1].

Sources

TIER A IEA, IRENA, UNSD, World Bank, WHO (Tracking SDG7), Tracking SDG7: The Energy Progress Report 2025, Chapter 2 (Access to Clean Cooking) (2023). https://trackingsdg7.esmap.org/sites/default/files/download-documents/chapter2-sdg7-report2025-0804-v11.pdf
Sub-Saharan Africa 2023: 21% access (19-24% range), 955.3 million without access, rural 7%, urban 42%. Only region where the number without access keeps growing. About 2.1 billion worldwide without access.
TIER A World Health Organization, Household air pollution and health (fact sheet) (2022-2025). https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/household-air-pollution-and-health
Confirms around 2.1 billion people worldwide cook with polluting fuels. 923 million in Sub-Saharan Africa lacked clean cooking in 2022. 2.9 million deaths from household air pollution in 2021.

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