Mauritania
MRTMauritania has about as many people as Norway, and 71 times less electricity to share between them.
5.2 million people against 5.6 million, but 400 kWh per person a year against 28,598.
What this grid depends on
Three measures that say more about a country than how much power it makes. Open “what this means” on any of them if the term is new.
Cleaner than 4 in 10 grids worldwide.
What this means
How much planet-warming gas is released to make one unit of electricity. Two countries can generate exactly the same amount and one of them be ten times dirtier doing it. Lower is better.
Mauritania buys in more electricity than it sends out.
What this means
The share of the electricity used here that was generated abroad and carried in over high-voltage lines. The higher it climbs, the more this country relies on a neighbour to keep its lights on.
Also true of Mauritania
Mauritania has cleaned up its grid faster than most people realise.
Low-carbon electricity went from 7% to 23% in 20 years.
Mauritania’s neighbours
MaliMali has about as many people as Taiwan, and 51 times less electricity to share between them.
SenegalSenegal has cleaned up its grid faster than most people realise.
AlgeriaAlgeria runs almost entirely on gas.
GambiaThe Gambia is second in the world for oil.
MoroccoMorocco is among the world's biggest wind and solar producers and still burns fossil fuels for most of its power.
Figures are for 2024, the most recent year reported for Mauritania. Generation shares are a percentage of electricity generated, not of energy used. How this is calculated.