Representing seven percent of global demand, energy consumption in Southasia is considered low for a region with more than 22 percent of the world's population. However, as the Indian economy continues to grow apace, and if Pakistan and Bangladesh, with their sizeable populations, also sustain their recent economic growth, this share stands to increase significantly. Energy consumption in the region as a whole has been rising by around 5.5 percent a year over the last three years, as compared to an average annual global growth rate of 2.5 percent. The growth in demand for electricity would be over 10 percent a year in all Southasian countries, to satisfy prevailing shortfalls and the backlog of rural electrification commitments, if sufficient generation could be mobilised. The region accounts for about 5.9 percent of world commercial energy consumption.
This does not include non-commercial energy sources such as wood, animal waste and other biomass, which account for more than half of the region's total energy consumption. The import of petroleum products to meet the growing demand for energy in Southasia is on the rise, putting additional pressure on balance of payments. Indeed, the immediate energy-security concern for Southasian governments is how to finance the sustained high oil prices. None of the countries in the region have been able to pass on the full international prices of petroleum to their populations, for fear of social unrest. The Maldives and Sri Lanka, which respectively import 100 and 85 percent of their commercial energy needs, are particularly vulnerable to escalating petroleum prices. Close behind is Nepal, which imports around 55 percent of its primary commercial energy. In comparison, India, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh, which import 20-30 percent of their overall energy imports, might seem more secure.
But this is misleading, since all countries depend on imported petroleum for their transportation needs, and the urban poor rely on kerosene for cooking fuel. An estimated 40 percent of the population in Southasia – a staggering 600 million, mostly rural – does not have access to electricity or other modern energy services. They continue to light their homes with dim, inefficient kerosene lamps, and cook in smoke-filled kitchens with firewood, dried animal manure and agricultural residue. The lack of basic energy services keeps people from good health, impacts negatively on education for girls and boys (due to the inability to study after dark), and disallows many from increasing their incomes.
Traditional energy usage continues drudgery for women and girls who are compelled to collect firewood and other biomass fuels, and impairs their health from cooking in smoky kitchens. Poor lighting reduces the ability of girls and boys to study in the evening and lack of electricity restricts access to information through television and radio. Lack of electricity means babies are delivered in poorly lit rooms, and rural health posts do not have refrigeration for storing vaccines. The UN's Human Development Index (HDI), which includes a composition of income, education, life expectancy and energy use, shows that countries with the lowest HDI are also those with the lowest amount of per-capita energy usage.