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230 V vs 120 V countries: the count by region

Of the 139 countries PlugAtlas covers, 116 supply 220–240 V at the socket and 22 supply 100–127 V. Brazil is the one country listed with both: 127 V / 220 V, depending on the state and municipality. Counted by population, 85.7 % of the people in these countries live on the 220–240 V side.

By James Wilson · Published 27 October 2026 · Data as of 28 October 2026

The count by region

Regions follow the UN M49 standard. Three of the five are entirely on the higher range, and only the Americas has a majority on the lower one.

Region220–240 V100–127 VBothTotal
Africa250025
Americas520126
Asia412043
Europe420042
Oceania3003

Europe (42 countries), Africa (25) and Oceania (3) have no 100–127 V country in our data. In the Americas, 20 of 26 countries use the lower range; the five on 220–240 V are Argentina, Chile, Paraguay, Peru and Uruguay, all in South America. Asia is the mirror image: 41 of 43 countries are on 220–240 V, and the exceptions are Japan and Taiwan.

By population

Weighting by population moves the balance further. The 116 higher-range countries are home to about 6.29 billion people, the 22 lower-range countries to 0.83 billion (11.4 %), and Brazil to 214 million (2.9 %). The two largest countries, China and India, are both on 220–240 V; the United States, third, is the largest on 100–127 V.

These totals use the latest population figure Wikidata holds for each country, so they describe the 139 countries in our data rather than the whole world.

The exact nominal values

Within each range, countries name slightly different figures. The chart counts countries by the nominal voltage they list; Brazil appears under both of its values.

  • 240 V9
  • 230 V74
  • 220 V34
  • 127 V3
  • 120 V10
  • 115 V3
  • 110 V6
  • 100 V1

The most common single figure is 230 V, with 74 countries, followed by 220 V with 34. The 9 countries listing 240 V are Brunei, Cyprus, Fiji, Kenya, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, the Seychelles and Uganda. On the lower side, 120 V leads with 10 countries, and Japan is alone at 100 V.

The differences inside a range are small next to the gap between ranges: 230 V is about 1.9 times 120 V. That is why the adapter checker treats any two values within 10 V as the same and any two values in one range as the same range, and only flags a different range.

Frequency: 50 Hz and 60 Hz

Frequency splits the countries less evenly: 114 run at 50 Hz and 24 at 60 Hz. Japan is listed with both, 50 Hz in the east and 60 Hz in the west.

Frequency usually travels with voltage. Of the 22 lower-range countries, 19 run at 60 Hz; of the 116 higher-range countries, 112 run at 50 Hz. The table lists every country that breaks that pattern.

CountryVoltageFrequency
Barbados115 V50 Hz
Brazil127 V / 220 V60 Hz
Jamaica110 V50 Hz
Japan100 V50 Hz / 60 Hz
Peru220 V60 Hz
Philippines220 V60 Hz
Saudi Arabia230 V60 Hz
South Korea220 V60 Hz

Barbados and Jamaica pair a 100–127 V supply with 50 Hz. Peru, the Philippines, Saudi Arabia and South Korea pair 220–230 V with 60 Hz, and Brazil runs both of its voltages at 60 Hz.

Borders that cross the divide

Among the 139 countries we cover, 194 pairs share a land border. Sea borders and links through overseas territories are left out, because a traveller cannot walk or drive across them. In 8 of those pairs the two countries are on different voltage ranges, and six of them involve Brazil, whose supply depends on the area.

Leaving Brazil aside, only Colombia with Peru and Ecuador with Peru cross the divide. So a land crossing rarely changes the voltage range; where it does, the country pages show it in their “Crossing a border” section.

What the figures mean for a device

The numbers on this page are nominal values, the figure a country’s supply is designed around; actual voltage at a socket varies a little. A device does not care which country it is in, only whether the supply falls inside what it was built for. That range is printed on its input rating label. Check your device’s input rating label before plugging it in on the other side of the divide.

The voltage map shows every country’s range at a glance, and each country page gives its own figures.

Sources

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