Ranked: Top Countries by Annual Electricity Production (1985–2024)

Pallavi Rao
2025-06-05 08:11:00
www.visualcapitalist.com

Ranked: Top Countries by Annual Electricity Production

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A light bulb is a symbol for innovation, ingenuity, and progress.

While it lends itself well as a visual metaphor for “bright idea,” the electricity powering it is also fundamental to the functioning of modern economies.

Which is why when we visualize the top countries by annual electricity production between 1985–2024, the world’s largest economies are the ones that show up on the chart.

Figures for this graphic are sourced from Our World in Data, measured in terawatt-hours (TWh)

Ranked: The Largest Electricity Producers in the World

China generated over 10,000 TWh of electricity in 2024.

For context, that’s more than the combined output of the U.S., EU, and India—the next three biggest producers.

Year	China (TWh)	U.S.	EU	India	Russia	Japan
1985	411	2,657	2,023	186	962	672
1986	450	2,676	2,076	203	1,001	676
1987	497	2,772	2,148	224	1,047	719
1988	545	2,914	2,198	241	1,066	754
1989	585	3,155	2,247	272	1,077	800
1990	621	3,233	2,274	288	1,082	882
1991	678	3,271	2,317	320	1,068	911
1992	754	3,284	2,304	337	1,008	917
1993	812	3,405	2,304	362	957	926
1994	928	3,459	2,339	388	876	985
1995	1,007	3,567	2,409	427	860	1,011
1996	1,081	3,663	2,492	443	847	1,030
1997	1,136	3,716	2,508	469	834	1,055
1998	1,167	3,856	2,563	505	827	1,060
1999	1,239	3,936	2,588	547	846	1,079
2000	1,356	3,802	2,622	571	878	1,100
2001	1,481	3,728	2,699	586	891	1,083
2002	1,654	3,844	2,722	610	891	1,103
2003	1,911	3,869	2,800	638	916	1,093
2004	2,203	3,952	2,868	698	932	1,121
2005	2,500	4,035	2,884	705	954	1,153
2006	2,866	4,047	2,932	744	992	1,164
2007	3,282	4,143	2,948	796	1,019	1,180
2008	3,496	4,108	2,960	828	1,040	1,184
2009	3,715	3,940	2,808	880	993	1,114
2010	4,207	4,114	2,945	937	1,038	1,156
2011	4,713	4,089	2,909	1,034	1,055	1,104
2012	4,988	4,041	2,903	1,092	1,069	1,107
2013	5,432	4,056	2,884	1,146	1,059	1,088
2014	5,794	4,096	2,824	1,262	1,064	1,063
2015	5,815	4,084	2,870	1,322	1,068	1,030
2016	6,133	4,088	2,891	1,402	1,091	1,064
2017	6,604	4,052	2,924	1,471	1,091	1,077
2018	7,166	4,202	2,908	1,579	1,109	1,083
2019	7,503	4,158	2,874	1,622	1,118	1,047
2020	7,779	4,043	2,753	1,582	1,085	1,011
2021	8,534	4,154	2,875	1,696	1,157	1,035
2022	8,849	4,287	2,777	1,829	1,167	1,041
2023	9,456	4,254	2,698	1,958	1,178	1,013
2024	10,073	4,387	2,698	2,058	1,211	1,022

Note: EU’s latest figure is from 2023.

China’s rapid rise in electricity generation fueled its equally rapid economic growth. In fact, research found that 1% increase in its electricity production corresponded to 0.17% increase in GDP (but not vice-versa).

However, in 2015 the Chinese government mandated a dual control policy to power generation. This meant reducing energy intensity by forcing shutdowns along with developing renewable sources to curb their emissions.

For reference, China also produces the most wind and solar energy in the world.

Why China Generates & Consumes More Electricity Than U.S.

If electricity generation (and consumption) correspond so closely to economic growth, then why is China still the second-largest economy in the world when it’s far outpaced the U.S. in power production?

The answer lies in how electricity is consumed in each country. Data from the IEA shows that industry is the primary consumer for China’s electricity.

Country	Main Consumption Sector	Share of Total Electricity Use
China	Industry	59%
U.S.	Residential	38%

Source: IEA: China’s electricity profile and the U.S. electricity profile.

On the other hand, America’s primary electricity consumers are residential homes.

A quick reminder that over the last two decades, manufacturing and heavy industries (with the exception of oil and gas production) have moved to China from the rest of the world, driving its extraordinary economic growth.

Meanwhile, the U.S. economy is powered by consumption of goods and high-value services, both which aren’t as energy-intensive as manufacturing.

Thus, China needs more to power itself because of its economic structure, and not only because it has more people.

Finally, the emergence of AI, and the demand for data centers means that U.S. electricity consumption (and generation), which has been steady for the last 20 years, is ticking up again.

Learn More on the Voronoi App

This chart is best viewed with other data in context. Check out: Visualizing China’s 18.6 Trillion Economy by Sector to see how much industry contributes to the country’s GDP.

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