Primary energy consumption worldwide by region 2010-2018

The Asia and Pacific region consumes the most primary energy in the world, at just under 6 billion metric tons of oil equivalent in 2018. Primary energy consumption is the use of crude energy directly at the source without transformation. Consumption of primary energy is increasing worldwide and has risen in Asia-Pacific by more than one million metric tons of oil equivalent since 2010.

Countries with the highest consumption

North America follows Asia-Pacific as the world’s second-largest consumer of primary energy, consuming 2.8 billion metric tons of oil equivalent. High consumption levels in Asia-Pacific and North America comes in large part from China and the United States. Rapid construction in a growing industrial sector accounts for a large share of China’s energy consumption and is currently the largest consumer of primary energy in the world.

Growth and common energy sources

As primary energy use increases across the globe, renewable energy consumption has more than quadrupled since 2008. Nevertheless, renewables remain the least-used primary energy source, just below nuclear power. Fossil fuels, such as oil and coal, are consumed at a higher volume than any other type of primary energy source in the world.