Why energy poverty persists: Multidimensional evidence from contrasting energy transitions in Tanzania and Vietnam

Expanding access to modern energy does not necessarily eliminate energy poverty. Even as incomes rise and energy access improves for many households, others may continue to experience deprivation across essential energy services. Yet relatively little is known about the forms this persistence takes and how they differ across energy-transition contexts. Using nationally representative household data from Tanzania and Vietnam from 2008 to 2020, we examine these patterns through a multidimensional energy poverty index. We assess changes in the incidence, intensity, dimensions, and distribution of energy poverty, estimate household-level correlates using Tobit and Logit models, and apply an Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition to the cross-country energy-deprivation gap. Energy poverty declined substantially in both countries, but persistence differed markedly. Tanzania exhibited broad persistence, with deprivation remaining widespread and severe despite major gains in electricity access, while Vietnam exhibited more residual and concentrated persistence following a rapid decline in aggregate energy poverty. Unclean cooking fuels remained the most persistent deprivation in both countries. Income, education, urban residence, and non-farm employment were associated with lower energy deprivation, while farming was associated with greater deprivation. Observable household characteristics accounted for 27.4% of the cross-country gap, indicating that differences in socioeconomic endowments alone do not account for the contrasting outcomes. Policy responses should therefore distinguish electrification from clean-cooking transitions and adapt targeting to the form of persistence. This requires broad multidimensional interventions where deprivation remains widespread and targeted support where it is residual and concentrated, particularly among rural and consumption-poor households and for persistent cooking deprivation.