IEA (2021), Electricity Information: Overview, IEA, Paris https://www.iea.org/reports/electricity-information-overview, Licence: CC BY 4.0
Electricity consumption
In 2019, world total electricity final consumption reached 22 848 TWh, up 1.7% from 2018. In 2019, OECD total electricity final consumption was 9 672 TWh, 1.1% lower than in 2018, while final electricity consumption in non-OECD countries was 13 176 TWh, an increase of 3.8% from 2018.
World electricity final consumption by sector, 1974-2019
OpenMuch of the growth in OECD electricity consumption since 1974 has taken place in the residential sector, and in the commercial and public services sector. By contrast, industry’s share of consumption has been in long-term decline with the result that as of 2019, these three sectors have a roughly equal share of consumption. The remaining consumption sectors – transport, agriculture and fishing – are relatively small consumers of electricity. However, road transport has recently experienced strong growth as electric vehicles gain market share across OECD countries, in particular in Europe.
OECD average annual growth rate in electricity final consumption by sector, 1974-2019
OpenThe four largest non-OECD consumers of electricity in 2019 were China, India, the Russian Federation and Brazil, which together represent 39.8% of global consumption. Among these countries, China has the largest share, accounting for almost half (49.5%) of non‑OECD consumption.
Outside of the OECD, electricity use is dominated by industry, which represents half of final electricity consumption.