Journal Article2026

Capturing the spatiotemporal inequality in electricity consumption at the subnational level of Bangladesh using nighttime lights

Amin Masud Ali, Muntasir Wahed, Amin Ahsan Ali, Moinul Zaber

Journal of the Asia Pacific Economy

Taylor & Francis, Vol. 31, Issue 2, pp. 397-426, ISBN: 1354-7860

  • Affordable and Clean Energy — Relevance: 87%
  • Reduced Inequalities — Relevance: 89%
DOI: 10.1080/13547860.2024.2426872URL

Abstract

This paper examines the spatiotemporal inequality in electricity consumption at the subnational level of Bangladesh using nighttime light (NTL) data. The NTL data, sourced from the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) day/night band (DNB) for the period from 2013 to 2020, reveals persistent variability in electricity consumption among the districts. Notably, the gap between urban and non-urban areas has widened. While within district inequality (measured by NTL Gini) has declined over time, it remains high in several districts. Convergence analysis confirms that while lagging districts are showing a catching up effect, the sub-districts are diverging among themselves (in terms of mean NTL per capita). Interestingly, the rural sub-districts are converging among themselves despite urban sub-district divergence. The study also identifies regions with significant imbalance between NTL, population, and built-up area density values. These findings have implications for policymakers aiming to ensure electricity for all and reduce inequality.

Keywords

  • VIIRS Day/Night Band
  • electricity consumption
  • built-up area density
  • nighttime lights
  • rural electrification
  • urban-rural divide
  • subnational inequality
  • Bangladesh

CCDS Authors

Amin Masud Ali, PhD
Amin Masud Ali, PhD

Amin Masud Ali, PhD

  • Supervisor, DS Wing

  • Professor

    Department of Economics

    Jahangirnagar University, Bangladesh

Muntasir Wahed
https://mmiakashs.github.io/

Muntasir Wahed

  • Collaborator, AI/ML Wing

  • Ph.D Candidate

    University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, USA

Prof. Amin Ahsan Ali, PhD
Amin Ahsan Ali, PhD

Prof. Amin Ahsan Ali, PhD

  • Director, AI/ML Wing

  • Professor

    Department of Computer Science and Engineering

    Independent University, Bangladesh (IUB)

Published at

ACL, CHI, UbiComp, ECCV, IJCAI, ECAI, WACV, IPSN, PAKDD, LREC, IJCNN, ICPR, ICIP, BEA, BLP, ICMLA, Scientific Reports, Scientific Data, Pattern Recognition, Information Sciences, Ad Hoc Networks, Drug and Alcohol Dependence, PLOS ONE

Moinul I Zaber, PhD
Moinul I Zaber, PhD

Moinul I Zaber, PhD

  • Director, HCI Wing
  • Supervisor, DS Wing

  • Professor

    Department of Computer Science & Engineering

    University of Dhaka, Bangladesh

  • Visiting Academic

    Department of Computer Science and Technology

    University of Cambridge, United Kingdom

  • Research Fellow

    Institute of Development Studies (Sussex), United Kingdom

Published at

ICPR, HCII, JMIR

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