Key Takeaways
The Energy Institute’s Statistical Review of World Energy, with data for 2025, has been released and shows that fossil fuels still provide 86% of the global energy supply.
Global energy supply rose by 1.7% in 2025, with all fuels increasing slightly, resulting in new records.
Renewables continued to grow, driven by government subsidies and mandates worldwide, with solar power accounting for 71% of the increase in 2025.
The drive to electrify more of the world’s economies and to expand AI data centers led to a 3% increase in electricity demand in 2025, outpacing the increase in energy supply.
Carbon dioxide emissions from energy rose worldwide in 2025, at a growth rate of 1.1%.
China remained the largest emitter of carbon dioxide, with a 31.3% share of global emissions, up 0.7% in 2025.
The Energy Institute released its Statistical Review of World Energy with data for calendar year 2025 on June 30, 2026. According to its data, global energy supply rose by 1.7%, with all major energy sources reaching all-time highs for the second consecutive year. Fossil fuels continued to expand in absolute terms and retained their dominant position, accounting for 86% of global energy supply. Renewables were the largest source of global supply growth for the first time outside a recession, driven by government subsidies and mandates, with solar accounting for 71% of the increase.
Electricity demand rose 3% in 2025 over 2024 levels, primarily due to growth in electric vehicles and AI data centers. Its 3% rate of rise was faster than the rise in total energy supply. Solar power rose by 30% worldwide in 2025, and its share of total power generation reached 8.7% – surpassing wind at 8.4% and almost equaling nuclear power’s share of 8.8%. Coal remained the largest source of global generation with a 32.6% share, dropping slightly from its 2024 share of 33.7%, followed by natural gas at 21.9%. Hydro’s share was 13.9% in 2025. Storage battery capacity grew by 66%, but should not be confused with a generation source, since it stores excess energy generated by other sources for later use, particularly when wind and solar power are in a lull. Batteries are thus a necessary additional expense due to the intermittency of wind and solar generation.
Global oil consumption grew by 1.3% in 2025, up from 1.1% in 2024, reaching 103 million barrels per day. Non-OECD oil demand rose by 2%, while OECD oil growth was only 0.4%. Consumption of gasoline and diesel in China has been declining over the last two years because the country has encouraged the purchase of electric vehicles through subsidies and other perks.
Global oil production grew 3.5% in 2025 to 100.6 million barrels per day. Oil production was dominated regionally by the Middle East, with the region’s largest producer, Saudi Arabia, increasing production by 5.1% in 2025. The United States remained the number one oil producer in 2025, producing 21.1 million barrels per day, nearly equal to the combined oil production of Saudi Arabia and Russia. A 4.8% increase in oil production in the Americas helped mitigate the impact of the current conflict in the Middle East. Argentina, Brazil, Guyana, and Venezuela all saw double-digit oil production growth, ranging from 12.4% in Brazil to 17.2% in Argentina. Oil trade data for 2025 show that major demand centers were heavily reliant on imports, with India importing 86% of its oil consumption and China and Europe importing 73% and 75%, respectively.
Global natural gas demand grew by 1.6% year-on-year, below the 10-year average growth of 1.9%. Gas consumption growth was concentrated in Europe, the Middle East, and North America, with consumption in the Asia-Pacific region relatively flat year-on-year. India and Europe were reliant on imported gas to meet half of their gas supply needs, and China on over a third. Historically, Europe’s gas imports came via pipeline, with up to 49% from Russia prior to 2022. In 2025, gas pipeline imports from Russia declined sharply to 13.6% of total gas imports, while Europe continued to import Russian gas via LNG. The European Union is targeting a full phase-out of Russian gas imports for autumn 2027 due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Europe both reduced its gas demand, preferring renewable energy, and continued to meet its gas needs by importing LNG from the United States. In 2025, the United States continued to expand its role as a net energy exporter, with LNG exports growing by 27%.
Global coal consumption grew by 0.7% in 2025. In China, coal consumption was relatively flat year-on-year due to slower demand for coking coal and higher solar generation. India’s coal consumption increased by 0.6% year-on-year, well below the 10-year average growth rate of 3.6%. Coal consumption in the United States grew by 10% due to a 50% increase in U.S. natural gas prices, which shifted power plant economics, causing a significant switch from gas to coal generation, and from the Trump administration using emergency procedures to keep some coal plants from retiring on their expected closure dates.
Global carbon dioxide emissions from the energy sector rose by 1.1% to 35,806.2 million metric tons in 2025. U.S. carbon dioxide emissions rose 3.1%, driven by almost a 13% increase in coal-fired generation. Europe’s carbon dioxide emissions from the energy sector increased by 0.5%. Regionally, Africa had the highest growth in carbon dioxide emissions at 2.8%, followed by North America at 2.7%. China remained the largest carbon dioxide emitter in 2025, accounting for 31.3% of global energy-sector emissions, with a growth rate of 0.7%.
Conclusion
Fossil fuels remained the dominant energy source in 2025, accounting for 86% of the global energy supply. Global energy supply rose by 1.7%, with all fuels increasing slightly, resulting in new records. Electricity demand again grew faster than total energy supply worldwide, growing at 3% in 2025. Energy-related carbon dioxide emissions also rose worldwide in 2025, at a growth rate of 1.1%. China remained the largest carbon dioxide emitter, accounting for 31.3% of global energy-sector emissions, with emissions growing by 0.7% in 2025.
