plate 053 · 2025 data

China now uses more electricity per person than the EU

Electricity demand per person in major economies, MWh, 2025.

The energy switch
  1. 1. China now uses more electricity per person than the EU
  2. 2. Solar now makes more of Brazil's power than fossil fuels
  3. 3. Rooftop solar now outsizes coal on Australia's main grid
  4. 4. Volcanic heat makes nearly 45% of the power Kenya generates
  5. 5. France swung from power importer to record exporter
  6. 6. Over a quarter of China's new heavy trucks are electric
  7. 7. More than two in three cars Nepal imports are electric
  8. 8. The US now ships a quarter of the world's LNG
  9. 9. Kazakhstan mines more uranium than Canada and Namibia combined
  10. 10. Indonesia now mines two-thirds of the world's nickel
  11. 11. India had 27 million ACs for 1.3 billion people
  12. 12. Sun and wind now beat fossil fuels in Chile
  13. 13. Two in three rickshaws sold in India are electric
  14. 14. Argentina mined 60% more lithium in just one year
  15. 15. Ethiopia added over a third of Africa's new renewable power
  16. 16. Only 16 countries are building new coal power plants
  17. 17. Egypt's sun and wind now outproduce its Nile dams
  18. 18. The price of lithium fell 86% in three years
  19. 19. Pakistan now gets more power from solar than from coal
  20. 20. Oil now makes less than a third of Saudi power
  21. 21. The Philippines is building more solar than it already runs
  22. 22. Nine in ten Indonesians now cook with clean fuels
  23. 23. Rwanda spread electricity faster than any country since 2014
7.5 vs 6.2 MWh

The average person in China used about a fifth more electricity than the average EU resident in 2025.

+6%

China's demand per person rose from 7.1 MWh in 2024 to 7.5 MWh in 2025.

1.9×

China's demand per person was nearly double the world average of 3.9 MWh in 2025.

Source: Ember, Global Electricity Review 2026 (Major countries and regions; Electricity demand and supply trends), 2025
the numbers & method
China now uses more electricity per person than the EU. Source: Ember, Global Electricity Review 2026 (Major countries and regions; Electricity demand and supply trends), 2025.
Electricity demand per person (MWh)
Canada16.1
United States13.1
Japan8.4
Russia8.2
China7.5
European Union6.2
World average3.9
Brazil3.6
India1.4

Claim types Fact

All values are Ember's stated per-capita electricity demand for 2025. Ember's EU section gives 6.2 MWh; its Russia section cites a 'European average' of 6.1 MWh. Ember's previous edition (GER 2025) says China passed Germany per person in 2023 and France in 2024. 'About a fifth more' is derived (7.5/6.2 = 1.21). 1.9× is derived (7.5/3.9 = 1.92).

Published 3 Nov 2026

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