Energy use has become more efficient around the world since 2000. Global energy intensity has improved by around 30% over the past 25 years, meaning the world uses about 30% less energy per unit of economic output today than it did in 2000, with differentiated trends by key end uses: passenger cars and air conditioners have notably seen efficiency improvements for new sales of 30% and 45%, respectively since 2005. However, the pace of improvement has slowed over the past 15 years, from an annual rate of about 2.2% in the early 2010s to about 1% in 2024, alongside a general slowdown in industrial value-added growth.

Minimum energy performance standards (MEPS) and fuel switching policies play an important role in improving energy efficiency by providing long time horizons for industry to develop and produce increasingly efficient new appliances and technologies. The first MEPS were enacted in 1975 in the United States and in 1979 in Japan as an immediate response to the oil crises of the 1970s, and in 1978 in the European Economic Community for water and space heaters. By 2025, more than 130 countries had at least one energy efficiency standard in place. State of Energy Policy 2026 provides the first long-term view of how the stringency of MEPS has evolved for a few key end uses of cooling and heating, road transport and industrial motors.

In 2025, 15 countries saw changes to MEPS take effect, with some increasing stringency and others decreasing it. Overall, the changes in 2025 marked a historic reduction in coverage and stringency, with significant withdrawals, relaxed legislation and postponements coming into force. MEPS covering 30% of global energy demand were made less stringent or saw implementation delayed, while only 17% of demand covered by MEPS saw increased stringency. The most significant decreases in efficiency stringency were in the United States, where the One Big Beautiful Bill Act removed corporate average fuel economy civil penalties, and the Department of Energy repealed earlier energy conservation standards for selected appliances. These changes are expected to have large impacts on MEPS compliance out to 2030.

Other notable delays or decreases in stringency included revisions to the United Kingdom’s plans to phase out new gas boiler installations, Canada pausing its 2026 zero emissions vehicle mandate to give the automotive industry additional time to prepare, and the Eurasian Economic Union (comprising Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic and the Russian Federation) delaying the implementation of MEPS for energy-consuming devices and industrial motors from 2025 to 2028. Rolling back minimum performance standards does not cause an immediate drop in efficiency, but over time it can shift the types of appliances sold and reduce pressure on manufacturers to develop more efficient products. Moreover, the global nature of appliance markets means that standards in other jurisdictions can still shape which products are produced, at what efficiency levels and, ultimately, which are available in different markets.

Higher levels of energy efficiency stringency came into force in other regions in 2025 but at an aggregate level did not offset the reduced stringency and coverage elsewhere. The most notable updates were in the road transport sector. China implemented a new fuel economy standard for passenger cars, tightening it to 4 L/100 km compared with 5 L/100 km in 2020, and the European Union’s new emissions standards for vehicles came into effect, albeit with flexibilities for meeting the new emissions targets through multi-year averaging in 2025. Fifteen countries updated their MEPS, with notable revisions in Mexico, Morocco and South Africa to energy efficiency standards and labelling programmes for most appliances, including industrial motors, raising requirements to the Premium Efficiency (IE3) standard.

MEPS coverage and stringency have progressed much more slowly than in the past, as most countries already have some standards in place and have focused on developing their policy portfolios towards incentives programmes. MEPS for cooling appliances, for instance, are in place for 90% of today’s global cooling demand, and coverage has remained stable over the past ten years. MEPS for boilers and space heating show a similar trend. Today, they cover about 80% of global heating demand, and ten countries representing about 6% of global heating demand have updated these standards over the past ten years. New MEPS for industrial pumps, compressors and motors have also hardly advanced beyond the prevailing standards today. The European Union and its main trade partners represent one of the most significant recent updates in this area, enforcing the Super Premium Efficiency (IE4) standard for industrial motors between 75 kW and 200 kW in 2023, while most other major economies enforce IE3. The slowing trend has been less pronounced in road transport regulations, where 48 countries, covering more than 80% of global passenger vehicle sales, have enforced new fuel efficiency standards in the past ten years, leaving only Eurasia and sub‑Saharan Africa as the main regions without such standards.

Rules and regulations on energy efficiency introduced in 2025 have affected not only compliance standards for manufacturers but also the planned ratchetting up of stringency through to 2035. The IEA has developed a new Energy Efficiency Stringency and Coverage Indicator (EESCI), which assesses where each country’s current energy performance standard sits relative to the most stringent MEPS announced for that end use globally. This harmonised approach makes it possible to explore the evolution of MEPS coverage and stringency over time – a first for this report.

The EESCI shows that energy efficiency standards have strengthened steadily since 2010. Historically, both the coverage and stringency of standards have been higher in advanced economies. Emerging markets and developing economies have often adopted frameworks based on those already in place in advanced economies, contributing to rising average EESCI scores up to 2024.

Developments in 2025 marked a break from this trend. Rollbacks of MEPS have altered the aggregate picture: passenger car efficiency standards in advanced economies are now broadly on par with those in emerging markets and developing economies. Much of this shift reflects changes in the United States. The withdrawal and revision of planned increases in stringency have had a particularly pronounced effect when assessing standards through 2030, as previously expected tightening, especially for passenger cars, has been removed.

The impact of rollbacks has been most significant in the transport sector. The elimination of the United States’ corporate average fuel economy civil penalties has weakened policy signals for manufacturers, both in standards in force today and in expected increases through to 2035. Similar effects are likely to arise from plans to delay or cancel standards and mandates in Canada, the European Union and the United Kingdom. Conversely, most emerging markets and developing economies are set to implement new standards through to 2030, which will lead to consistent increases in stringency, led by China’s Phase VI fuel consumption standard, India’s fuel consumption standards and Brazil’s Green Mobility and Innovation vehicle emissions programme. In aggregate, the energy efficiency signals provided in 2025 stand at similar levels to those of legislation enforced in 2019.

A similar, yet less marked, pattern has unfolded in the industry sector. The most impactful regulatory change for industrial motors in 2025 was in the Eurasian Economic Union, which accounts for 5% of global electricity demand for motors. It postponed the implementation of its standard from 2025 to 2028. This effectively reduced the expected aggregate increase in stringency: the average EESCI score reached 63 in 2025, compared with 66 under stated policies as of 2024. However, the policy signals provided for 2030 remain broadly in line with legislation in place in 2024, with no complete withdrawals, downscaling or upgrades of industrial efficiency standards globally.

Recent setbacks in buildings energy efficiency policies largely reflect revisions to standards scheduled to take effect through to 2035, notably the scaling back or delaying of bans on fossil fuel boilers. Overall, these rollbacks have had only a limited impact on EESCI scores. The pace of increases in appliance efficiency stringency has been persistently slow, and few new, more demanding standards for major appliances are scheduled to take effect in the coming years. Air conditioners provide a clear example. Following significant step changes, such as the introduction of new air conditioner MEPS in the European Union in 2013 and China’s standards revision in 2019, appliance standards have remained largely stable in both advanced economies and emerging markets. Where new measures have been introduced, they have generally had only a modest effect on aggregate EESCI scores. Looking ahead, only a limited number of more stringent standards are due to enter into force, most notably under Japan’s Top Runner programme, which will raise requirements from 2027 and gradually lift EESCI scores thereafter.