In this section
In this sectionThe GPA Secretariat has estimated the number of FDPs without access to sustainable energy worldwide, covering 99 million displaced people across 104 countries. Click here to read the report.
Highlights
- Worldwide deficit: 37 million FDPs lack access to electricity and 50 million FDPs lack access to clean cooking.
- Disproportionately affected: FDPs represent 1.4% of the global population but 5.6% of the people without electricity and 2.5% without clean cooking worldwide.
- More support needed: 71% of FDPs live in low income countries but these host 99% of FDPs without access to electricity and 97% of FDPs without clean cooking.
Worldwide, 32% of all FDPs lack access to electricity and 43% lack access to clean cooking. This is a higher rate than the countries they are hosted in (14% and 37%, respectively, averaged across all countries in this analysis) as well as the global averages (8% and 26%).
This means that FDPs represent a disproportionately large share of the worldwide energy access deficit. The 117 million FDPs around the world represent:
- 1.4% of the global population (8.2 billion)
- 5.7% of the global population without electricity (666 million)
- 2.5% of the global population without clean cooking (2.1 billion).
In the hosting countries, FDPs are around more than twice as likely to lack electricity access than the national average, and around 15% more likely to lack clean cooking.
Cumulatively, the number of FDPs without access is similar in scale to some of the highest national access deficits. The total number of FDPs without electricity worldwide would be the fourth-largest national deficit and those without clean cooking would be the ninth-largest national deficit.
Most FDPs without sustainable energy access live in fragile and conflict-affected countries. For refugees, 61% of people without electricity and 56% of people without clean cooking live in these settings. Rates are far higher for IDPs at 95% and 87% respectively: refugees from affected countries may have moved into a country unaffected by conflict or fragility, but IDPs often remain within them. A disproportionate number of FDPs without access live in low- and lower-middle income countries.
Whilst 71% of FDPs worldwide are hosted in these countries, 99% of FDPs without electricity access and 97% of FDPs without clean cooking are hosted in them. Overall, whilst the situation is usually more acute for FDPs, most of those without access live in countries which also have higher national access deficits.
Recommendations
The path to achieving Sustainable Development Goal 7 for FDPs is intertwined with both the energy access and humanitarian sectors. Greater coordination and resource mobilisation will be required to meet the scale of the energy deficit and the specific challenges of operating in fragile and displacement-affected settings.
- FDPs should be integrated into national sustainable energy policies, local development plans, and investments. The scale of the challenge is so large and widespread that governments will each need to develop dedicated policies to address its own national deficit.
- The needs of FDP communities are often more acute and will require specific support. Accommodating these in policies and programmes should be driven by national governments, facilitated by humanitarian agencies, and implemented through market systems and blended public-private models.
- Additional resources should be dedicated to meeting the energy needs of FDPs. Global initiatives (such as Mission 300) should be leveraged to dedicate more resources to displacement settings, both in total and on a per capita basis, to overcome the disproportionately high deficit amongst FDPs.
About the study
The GPA Secretariat has estimated the number of FDPs without access to sustainable energy worldwide, covering 99 million displaced people across 104 countries. Click here to read the report.
For further information, contact Philip Sandwell (GPA Secretariat Research Lead) at philiprs@unops.org.
Quantifying the global sustainable energy access gap amongst forcibly displaced people
Last updated: 02/07/2026