Quick Travel Tools
Atlas · Data study · Updated 2026-07-18

How the World Is Wired: 199 countries, two kinds of electricity

We mapped the plug type, voltage and frequency of all 199 countries. The takeaway for travellers: there are really just two electrical worlds, and the one North America lives in is the minority.

Type C the world's most common plug, in 127 of 199 countries (64%)
86% of countries run on 220–240V. Just 14% run on 100–127V.
166 vs 33 countries on 50 Hz versus 60 Hz
Plug types, by number of countries that use them

The plugs that rule the world

Most countries use more than one, so this counts every country where each type appears. Type C shows up almost everywhere; the bottom of the list is regional.

Type C
Europe, most of Asia, Africa, South America
12764%
Type F
Continental Europe, Russia
7437%
Type G
UK, Ireland, Gulf states
5025%
Type A
North America, Japan
4523%
Type B
North America, Japan
4221%
Type E
3819%
Type D
3216%
Type I
179%
Type M
168%
Type L
126%
Type K
42%
Type J
42%
Type N
32%
Type H
21%
Type O
11%

Bars show the number of the 199 countries whose outlets accept each plug type. Shares don't add to 100% because most countries accept several.

Primary mains voltage, share of all 199 countries

Two voltages, one expensive mistake

A plug adapter changes the shape. It does nothing to the voltage, and that's the part that fries a single-voltage hair dryer.

220–240V · 171 countries · most of Europe, Asia, Africa, Oceania100–127V · 28 countries · North America, parts of Latin America, Japan

If you live on the 100–127V side, most of the planet runs at roughly double your voltage. Dual-voltage devices (nearly every phone and laptop charger, marked 100–240V) handle it automatically. Single-voltage, high-wattage things like cheap hair dryers, straighteners and curling irons do not, and an adapter won't save them. Check the label before you pack.

Look up any country's plugs →

Methodology & source

Plug types, primary voltage and mains frequency parsed from raw source data for all 199 countries. Voltage buckets: 100–127V (“low”) and 220–240V (“high”). Countries commonly use more than one plug type, so the type shares sum to more than 100%. The plug ranking covers the standard IEC types (A–O) travellers meet at a wall outlet; heavy-appliance receptacles (e.g. US/Canada NEMA dryer and range outlets) are excluded.

Data: Wikipedia: Mains electricity by country (CC BY-SA 4.0). Analysis by Quick Travel Tools.

Cite this study (free with a link back):
Quick Travel Tools: “How the World Is Wired: 199 countries, two kinds of electricity”. https://quicktraveltools.com/studies/global-plug-voltage-report-2026/