Electric energy consumption is energy consumption in the form of electrical energy. Approximately one-fifth of global energy is consumed as electricity: for residential, industrial, commercial, transportation and other purposes. The global electricity consumption in 2022 was 24,398 terawatt-hours (TWh), almost exactly three times the amount of consumption in 1981 (8,132 TWh). China, the United States, and India accounted for more than half of the global share of electricity consumption. Japan and Russia followed with nearly twice the consumption of the remaining industrialized countries.
While power is measured in watts (W) or kilowatts (kW), energy consumption is typically measured in watt-hours (Wh) or kilowatt-hours (kWh), following the fundamental relation:
where E is energy, P is power, and t is time.
Overview Electric energy is most often measured either in joules (J), or in watt hours (W·h).
1 W·s = 1 J 1 W·h = 3,600 W·s = 3,600 J 1 kWh = 3,600 kWs = 1,000 Wh = 3.6 million W·s = 3.6 million J
Electric and electronic devices consume electric energy to generate desired output (light, heat, motion, etc.). During operation, some part of the energy is lost depending on the electrical efficiency.
Electricity has been generated in power stations since 1882. The invention of the steam turbine in 1884 to drive the electric generator led to an increase in worldwide electricity consumption.
In 2022, the total worldwide electricity production was nearly 29,000 TWh. Total primary energy is converted into numerous forms, including, but not limited to, electricity, heat and motion. Some primary energy is lost during the conversion to electricity, as seen in the United States, where a little more than 60% was lost in 2022.
In 2022, electricity accounted for more than 20% of global final energy consumption, while oil made up less than 40%, coal less than 9%, natural gas less than 15%, biofuels and waste less than 10%, and other sources (such as heat, solar, wind, and geothermal energy) more than 5%.
That year, total final electricity consumption was distributed unevenly across sectors: industry (42.2%), residential (26.8%), commercial and public services (21.1%), transport (1.8%), and other sectors such as agriculture and fishing (8.1%). In 1981, final electricity consumption continued to decline in the industrial sector, while it increased in the residential, commercial, and public services sectors.
A sensitivity analysis on an adaptive neuro-fuzzy network model for electric demand estimation shows that employment is the most critical factor influencing electrical consumption. The study used six parameters as input data, employment, GDP, dwelling, population, heating degree day and cooling degree day, with electricity demand as output variable.
World electricity consumption
The table lists 45 electricity-consuming countries, which used about 22,000 TWh. These countries comprise about 90% of the final consumption of 190+ countries. The final consumption to generate this electricity is provided for every country. The data is from 2022.
In 2022, OECD's final electricity consumption was over 10,000 TWh. In that year, the industrial sector consumed about 42.2% of the electricity, with the residential sector consuming nearly 26.8%, the commercial and public services sectors consuming about 21.1%, the transport sector consuming nearly 1.8%, and the other sectors (such as agriculture and fishing) consuming nearly 8.1%. In recent decades, the consumption in the residential and commercial and public services sectors has grown, while the industry consumption has declined. More recently, the transport sector has witnessed an increase in consumption with the growth in the electric vehicle market. + Electricity consumption of selected countries (OECD, 2022) Rank Country Final consumption(TWh) Population(millions) Per capita consumption (MWh)— WORLD 24,398 7,960 3.07 1 7,214 1,443 5 2 4,272 336 12.71 3 1,403 1,401 1 4 1,132 126 8.98 5 934 146 6.4 6 595 38.1 15.62 7 553 51.2 10.8 8 550 215 2.56 9 539 82.2 6.55 10 463 67.7 6.84 11 317 36 8.81 12 312 68.4 4.56 13 308 276 1.17 14 300 60 5 15 296 127 2.33 16 280 83.3 3.36 17 264 84 3.14 18 257 23.8 10.8 19 246 46.8 5.26 20 233 60 3.88 21 225 26 8.65 22 220 100 2.2 23 203 70 2.9 24 170 33.2 5.12 25 168 105 1.6 26 156 37.5 4.17 27 154 43.2 3.56 28 147 10.2 14.4 29 138 46 3 30 136 10.2 13.33 31 128 5.5 23.27 32 124 226 0.55 33 120 17.5 6.86 34 98 11.8 8.33 35 90 5.6 16.03 36 84 19.2 4.38 37 75 18.7 4 38 73 9.1 8.02 39 72 28.1 2.56 40 66 44 1.5 41 62 9.3 6.67 42 59 9.4 6.27 43 43 5 8.6 44 35 5.8 6.02 45 28 5.5 5.1
Consumption per capita The final consumption divided by the number of inhabitants provides a country's consumption per capita. In Western Europe, this is between 4 and 8 MWh/year. (1 MWh = 1,000 kWh) In Scandinavia, the United States, Canada, Taiwan, South Korea, Australia, Japan and the United Kingdom, the per capita consumption is higher; however, in developing countries, it is much lower. The world's average was about 3 MWh/year in 2022. Very low consumption levels, such as those in Philippines, not included in the table, indicate that many inhabitants are not connected to the electricity grid, and that is the reason why some of the world's most populous countries, including Nigeria and Bangladesh, do not appear in the table.
Electricity generation and GDP The table lists 30 countries, which represent about 76% of the world population, 84% of the world GDP, and 85% of the world electricity generation. Productivity per electricity generation (concept similar to energy intensity) can be measured by dividing GDP over the electricity generated. The data is from 2019.
+ Electricity generation (2019) and GDP (PPP) (2019) Country Population, millions rank* GDP (PPP),billions (USD) rank* GDP (PPP) per capita rank* Electricity generation (GWh/yr) rank* GDP (PPP) /kWh* 1,407 1 $14,280 2 $10,149 15 7,503,428 1 $1.9 1,366 2 $2,871 6 $2,102 26 1,603,675 3 $1.8 328 3 $21,433 1 $65,345 1 4,411,159 2 $4.9 270.6 4 $1,119 16 $4,135 20 278,942 17 $4.0 211 6 $1,878 9 $8,900 18 626,328 7 $3.0 216.6 5 $279 26 $1,288 28 138,626 24 $2.0 163 8 $302 25 $1,853 27 89,672 27 $3.4 201 7 $448 22 $2,229 25 33,552 28 $13.4 144 9 $1,687 11 $11,715 14 1,118,143 4 $1.5 126 11 $5,149 3 $40,865 7 1,030,286 5 $5.0 127.6 10 $1,269 15 $9,945 16 322,584 13 $3.9 108 13 $377 23 $3,491 21 106,041 26 $3.6 96.5 15 $262 27 $2,715 24 227,461 21 $1.2 112 12 $96 29 $857 29 14,553 29 $6.6 100.4 14 $303 24 $3,018 23 200,563 22 $1.5 83 18 $3,888 4 $46,843 4 609,406 8 $6.4 83.5 17 $761 19 $9,114 17 303,898 15 $2.5 86.8 16 $50 30 $576 30 9,990 30 $5.0 83 19 $258 28 $3,108 22 318,696 14 $0.8 69.6 20 $544 21 $7,816 19 186,503 23 $2.9 67.3 21 $2,729 7 $40,550 8 562,842 10 $4.8 66.8 22 $2,879 5 $43,099 6 324,761 12 $8.9 59.7 23 $2,009 8 $33,652 9 293,853 16 $6.8 51.7 24 $1,651 12 $31,934 10 585,301 9 $2.8 47.1 25 $1,393 13 $29,575 11 267,501 19 $5.2 37.6 26 $1,742 10 $46,330 5 648,676 6 $2.7 34.3 27 $793 18 $23,120 13 343,661 11 $2.3 23.6 28 $605 20 $25,636 12 274,059 18 $2.2 25.4 29 $1,392 14 $54,803 2 265,901 20 $5.2 17.3 30 $910 17 $52,601 3 121,062 25 $7.5 World 7,683 — $87,555 — $11,395 — 27,044,191 — $3.5 Population data is from the World Bank GDP data is from the World Bank Electricity data is from BP Global rank* of Population, GDP, and Electricity generation are rankings within this list GDP (PPP) / kWh is the amount of GDP (PPP) (USD) produced per kilowatt-hour
Electricity consumption by sector The table below lists the 15 countries with the highest final electricity consumption, which comprised more than 70% of the global consumption in 2022. + Electricity final consumption by sector (2022) Country/ Geographical region Total(TWh) Industry Transport Commercial /Public services ResidentialAgriculture /Forestry Other 7,214 59.9% 2.4% 7.3% 16.4% 2.2% 11.8% 4,272 19.9% 0.6% 35.2% 37.4% 2.1% 4.8% 1,403 37.7% 11.2% 7.8% 21.7% 15.9% 5.7% 1,132 37% 1.8% 33.7% 27.1% 0.3% 0.1% 934 44.8% 11.1% 20.4% 21.1% 2.5% 0.1% 595 35.9% 1.5% 28.1% 32.5% 2.0% 0% 553 52.3% 0.6% 31.4% 12.7% 2.5% 0.5% 550 38.3% 0.7% 27.3% 27.7% 6% 0% 539 44.8% 2.3% 26.4% 25.4% 1.1% 0% 463 26.9% 2.4% 31.5% 37% 1.9% 0.3% 317 33.7% 3.9% 28.3% 25% 4.1% 5% 312 18.3% 2.2% 38.2% 39.1% 2% 0.2% 300 30% 5% 32% 30% 1% 2% 296 29% 4% 33% 30% 3% 1% 280 24% 6% 37% 25% 5% 3% World 24,398 42.2% 1.8% 21.1% 26.8% 3.1% 5%
Electricity outlook
Looking forward, increasing energy efficiency will result in less electricity needed for a given demand in power, but demand will increase strongly on the account of: Economic growth in developing countries, and Electrification of transport and heating. Combustion engines are replaced by electric drive and for heating less gas and oil, but more electricity is used, if possible with heat pumps.
The International Energy Agency expects revisions of subsidies for fossil fuels which amounted to $550 billion in 2013, more than four times renewable energy subsidies. In this scenario,IEA World energy outlook almost half of the increase in 2040 of electricity consumption is covered by more than 80% growth of renewable energy. Many new nuclear plants will be constructed, mainly to replace old ones. The nuclear part of electricity generation will increase from 11 to 12%. The renewable part goes up much more, from 21 to 33%. The IEA warns that in order to restrict global warming to 2 °C, carbon dioxide emissionsby fossil fuel must not exceed 1000 gigaton (Gt) from 2014. This limit is reached in 2040 and emissions will not drop to zero ever.
The World Energy CouncilWorld energy scenarios sees world electricity consumption increasing to more than 40,000 TWh/a in 2040. The fossil part of generation depends on energy policy. It can stay around 70% in the so-called "Jazz" scenario where countries rather independently "improvise" but it can also decrease to around 40% in the "Symphony" scenario if countries work "orchestrated" for more climate friendly policy. Carbon dioxide emissions, 32 Gt/a in 2012, will increase to 46 Gt/a in Jazz but decrease to 26 Gt/a in Symphony. Accordingly, until 2040 the renewable part of generation will stay at about 20% in Jazz but increase to about 45% in Symphony.
An EU survey conducted on climate and energy consumption in 2022 found that 63% of people in the European Union want energy costs to be dependent on use, with the greatest consumers paying more. This is compared to 83% in China, 63% in the UK and 57% in the US. 24% of Americans surveyed believing that people and businesses should do more to cut their own usage (compared to 20% in the UK, 19% in the EU, and 17% in China).
Nearly half of those polled in the European Union (47%) and the United Kingdom (45%) want their government to focus on the development of renewable energies. This is compared to 37% in both the United States and China when asked to list their priorities on energy.
The United States is on track to break electricity consumption records in 2025 and 2026, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) Short-Term Energy Outlook, released in February 2025. With demand from data centers powering artificial intelligence and cryptocurrency operations, alongside rising electricity use in homes and businesses for heating and transportation, the EIA projects total power consumption will hit 4,179 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh) in 2025 and 4,239 billion kWh in 2026—both surpassing the current record of 4,082 billion kWh set in 2024.