Universal electricity access is an important element of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, and global efforts to monitor progress in electrification have recently escalated. To inform these efforts, we describe a new database of total, rural, and urban electrification rates across the world. Using transparent coding criteria and decades of data, going back to the 1960s for many countries, from nationally representative surveys and official reports from 124 non-OECD countries, we uncover evidence for rapid progress in household electrification relative to earlier estimates. Our comprehensive and freely available database offers a solid baseline for tracking progress in household electrification across the world. We confirm a robust association between per capita income and household electrification, and identify population density and urbanization as additional key drivers.