Ghana’s electricity consumption has grown significantly over the years, with customers increasing from 932,598 in 2000 to 5,566,711 in 2022 at an annual average growth rate of 8.5%. Residential customers constitute the majority with 86%, while non-residential customers and special load tariff (SLT) customers who are large energy consumers make up 14% and 0.04%, respectively. ECG holds the majority share among distribution entities, with 79.6%, followed by NEDCO (20.4%) and EPC (0.003%).
Electricity Consumption by Sectors (GWh)
The graph depicts electricity consumption across sectors from 2000 to 2023, with the total consumption showing an overall annual growth rate of approximately 4.7%.
In 2023, Ghana’s electricity consumption continued its upward trend across all major sectors. The residential sector consumed 7,479 GWh, representing approximately 39.7% of total consumption. The industrial sector remained the largest consumer, accounting for 43.8% with 8,250 GWh. The service sector followed with 3,069 GWh, representing 16.3% of the total. Consumption in agriculture and transport remained minimal, recording 39 GWh and 11 GWh respectively. Overall, total electricity consumption for the year reached 18,849 GWh.
Customer Population by Classification
In 2023, Ghana’s distribution utilities customer population remained predominantly residential, with residential customers totaling 5,085,561, representing approximately 85.6% of the total. Non-residential customers numbered 849,405, making up about 14.3%, while Special Load Tariff (SLT) customers—large-scale consumers such as mining companies—stood at 2,246, accounting for just 0.04% of the total customer base of 5,937,212.
The residential customer population refers to private households, while the non-residential group consists mostly of commercial entities. SLT customers are high-energy-demand end-users, and these classifications determine the applicable electricity tariffs.