In 2023, electricity consumption in Vanuatu was about 250 kWh per person—just 7% of the global average of 3,794 kWh per person, or roughly one-fifteenth as much. Low-carbon electricity generation was around 62 kWh per person, equivalent to about a quarter of consumption. The remaining three quarters fall outside the reported low-carbon total, although the supplied figures do not identify their individual fossil-fuel sources. Such limited electricity availability can constrain healthcare, refrigeration, education, businesses and digital services. Expanding clean electricity would support these essential services while reducing reliance on fossil fuels and their associated air pollution and climate impacts.

Is Electricity Growing in Vanuatu?

Electricity consumption in Vanuatu has not maintained its previous peak. The 2023 level was about 59 kWh per person below the 2019 record of 308 kWh per person—a decline of roughly 19%. Low-carbon generation also fell from its 2019 record of 103 kWh per person to around 62 kWh in 2023, down about 40%. These rounded figures show a concerning retreat from earlier achievements, rather than sustained growth. Although they do not establish what happened every intervening year, they underline the need to restore and expand clean electricity supply to meet development needs and future electrification.

Suggestions

Vanuatu should prioritize expanding its existing solar generation, pairing rooftop installations and community-scale projects with batteries and stronger island electricity networks. Australia, with 58 TWh of solar electricity in the supplied comparison, offers a geographically relevant example; Japan, with 105 TWh, provides another island-country reference, although both operate at much larger scales. Their experience can inform deployment rather than serve as a direct size target. Wind could complement solar where local measurements demonstrate suitable resources. Nuclear should also be considered in long-term clean electricity planning: France’s 376 TWh illustrates its contribution to substantial low-carbon supply, while Vanuatu could follow developments in smaller reactor technologies and assess their suitability for its future electricity needs.

History

The historical figures show no recorded changes at the supplied precision: wind entries in 2013–2016 all register zero TWh, as do the hydro and solar entries in 2018 and all three technologies in 2019–2020. Hydro and solar changes also register zero throughout 2021–2023. For a small electricity system such as Vanuatu’s, these rounded values do not necessarily mean generation was unchanged or absent; changes may simply be too small to appear at this scale. More precise figures are needed to describe the underlying development and explain the decline in low-carbon generation per person since 2019.

Electricity Imports and Exports

Balance of Trade