Global power consumption 2020, by country
China consumes by far more electricity than any country in the world, with almost seven terawatt-hours consumed every year. The United States ranks as the second-largest electricity consumer, at some 3,800 terawatt hours in 2020. It was followed by India, but by a wide margin.
Countries with a high GDP per capita as the United States provide their residents greater average purchasing power. Countries with higher-income residents tend to be more urbanized, leading to higher electricity consumption. The U.S. stands amongst the ten-largest electricity consumers per capita in the world, with Iceland and Norway leading the ranking.
Large population, high consumption?
The world's top three electricity consumers constitute the countries with the largest population. China leads both rankings. India, on the other hand, nearly matches China in terms of population, while recording less than one fifth of the Chinese annual electricity consumption. Meanwhile, countries like Nigeria, which boasted the seventh-largest population worldwide didn't even rank among the top 20 electricity consumers.Countries with a high GDP per capita as the United States provide their residents greater average purchasing power. Countries with higher-income residents tend to be more urbanized, leading to higher electricity consumption. The U.S. stands amongst the ten-largest electricity consumers per capita in the world, with Iceland and Norway leading the ranking.
