It’s hard to deny that electricity is one of humankind’s greatest achievements.
Even if we don’t use candles or lanterns, electricity enables us to keep our houses lit without the need for these inconvenient devices, and it even powers your computer or smartphone as you read this.
Electricity has its benefits and drawbacks. A massive, costly infrastructure is required, as well as millions of wires and connections and the risk of electrical fires in the house. In addition to contributing to global warming, pollution from power plants lowers the air quality we breathe.
In this post, we’ll look at the world’s biggest electricity users. China is at the top of the list. China consumes an estimated 6.3 trillion kWh per year, according to statistics from 2017. However, China does not have the largest energy usage per capita in the world. Iceland is the deserving recipient of this distinction.
Iceland is the 73rd most energy-intensive country in the world, averaging 17 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity per year. But the average annual use of energy in a capital city is about 50,613 kilowatt-hours.
Comparisons may be drawn to China, which has an average annual energy use of 4,475 kilowatts per capita.
With an annual consumption of about 3.9 trillion kilowatt-hours, the United States ranks second among the world’s electric energy consumers. Russia and India are two more countries with annual electricity consumption above one trillion kilowatt-hours.
Other countries that use a lot of electricity include (in decreasing order of kilowatts per hour per year):
- Japan
- Germany
- Canada
- Brazil
- South Korea
- France
- United Kingdom
- Italy
- Saudi Arabia
- Taiwan
- Mexico
- Spain
- Australia
- Indonesia
- Iran
- South Africa
Also See: Electricity Consumption by Country 2022
As an alternative, some countries use a relatively little amount of electricity overall. Gaza uses the least electricity, using around 200,000 kilowatt-hours per year. Other countries that use less energy are:
- Niue
- Saint Helena,
- Ascension and Tristan da Cunha
- Falkland Islands
- Montserrat
- Nauru
- Kiribati
- Guinea-Bissau
- Cook Islands
- Comoros
- Saint Pierre and Miquelon
Country | Energy Consumption (kWh per capita) | 2022 Population |
---|---|---|
Iceland | 53832 | 345.3930 |
Norway | 23000 | 5511.3700 |
Bahrain | 19597 | 1783.9830 |
Kuwait | 15591 | 4380.3260 |
Canada | 15588 | 38388.4190 |
Finland | 15250 | 5554.9600 |
Qatar | 14782 | 2979.9150 |
Luxembourg | 13915 | 642.3710 |
Sweden | 13480 | 10218.9710 |
United States | 12994 | 334805.2690 |
United Arab Emirates | 11088 | 10081.7850 |
South Korea | 10497 | 51329.8990 |
Brunei | 10291 | 445.4310 |
Australia | 10071 | 26068.7920 |
Saudi Arabia | 9401 | 35844.9090 |
New Zealand | 9026 | 4898.2030 |
Singapore | 8845 | 5943.5460 |
Austria | 8356 | 9066.7100 |
Japan | 7820 | 125584.8380 |
Belgium | 7709 | 11668.2780 |
Switzerland | 7520 | 8773.6370 |
Trinidad and Tobago | 7093 | 1406.5850 |
Germany | 7035 | 83883.5960 |
France | 6940 | 65584.5180 |
Estonia | 6732 | 1321.9100 |
Slovenia | 6728 | 2078.0340 |
Netherlands | 6713 | 17211.4470 |
Russia | 6603 | 145805.9470 |
Israel | 6601 | 8922.8920 |
Oman | 6446 | 5323.9930 |
Czech Republic | 6259 | 10736.7840 |
Hong Kong | 6083 | 7604.2990 |
Denmark | 5859 | 5834.9500 |
Gibraltar | 5693 | 33.7040 |
Ireland | 5672 | 5020.1990 |
Kazakhstan | 5600 | 19205.0430 |
Spain | 5356 | 46719.1420 |
Slovakia | 5137 | 5460.1930 |
United Kingdom | 5130 | 68497.9070 |
Greece | 5063 | 10316.6370 |
Italy | 5002 | 60262.7700 |
Malta | 4925 | 444.0330 |
Curacao | 4798 | 165.5290 |
Bulgaria | 4709 | 6844.5970 |
Portugal | 4663 | 10140.5700 |
Malaysia | 4652 | 33181.0720 |
Montenegro | 4612 | 627.9500 |
Serbia | 4272 | 8653.0160 |
South Africa | 4198 | 60756.1350 |
Poland | 3972 | 37739.7850 |
Hungary | 3966 | 9606.2590 |
China | 3927 | 1448471.4000 |
Chile | 3880 | 19250.1950 |
Lithuania | 3821 | 2661.7080 |
Croatia | 3714 | 4059.2860 |
Belarus | 3680 | 9432.8000 |
Cyprus | 3625 | 1223.3870 |
Suriname | 3597 | 596.8310 |
Latvia | 3507 | 1848.8370 |
Bosnia and Herzegovina | 3447 | 3249.3170 |
Ukraine | 3419 | 43192.1220 |
Uruguay | 3085 | 3496.0160 |
Argentina | 3075 | 46010.2340 |
Iran | 3022 | 86022.8370 |
Turkey | 2847 | 85561.9760 |
Venezuela | 2719 | 29266.9910 |
Georgia | 2694 | 3968.7380 |
Turkmenistan | 2679 | 6201.9430 |
Brazil | 2620 | 215353.5930 |
Lebanon | 2588 | 6684.8490 |
Romania | 2584 | 19031.3350 |
Thailand | 2539 | 70078.2030 |
Albania | 2309 | 2866.3740 |
Azerbaijan | 2202 | 10300.2050 |
Mauritius | 2183 | 1274.7270 |
Mexico | 2157 | 131562.7720 |
Panama | 2064 | 4446.9640 |
Mongolia | 2006 | 3378.0780 |
Armenia | 1962 | 2971.9660 |
Costa Rica | 1942 | 5182.3540 |
Kyrgyzstan | 1941 | 6728.2710 |
Jordan | 1865 | 10300.8690 |
Botswana | 1816 | 2441.1620 |
Libya | 1811 | 7040.7450 |
Egypt | 1683 | 106156.6920 |
Namibia | 1653 | 2633.8740 |
Uzbekistan | 1645 | 34382.0840 |
Dominican Republic | 1616 | 11056.3700 |
Paraguay | 1552 | 7305.8430 |
Tajikistan | 1499 | 9957.4640 |
Tunisia | 1455 | 12046.6560 |
Cuba | 1451 | 11305.6520 |
Vietnam | 1424 | 98953.5410 |
Moldova | 1386 | 4013.1710 |
Ecuador | 1376 | 18113.3610 |
Algeria | 1363 | 45350.1480 |
Peru | 1346 | 33684.2080 |
Iraq | 1328 | 42164.9650 |
Colombia | 1312 | 51512.7620 |
Gabon | 1168 | 2331.5330 |
Jamaica | 1051 | 2985.0940 |
Syria | 974 | 19364.8090 |
El Salvador | 937 | 6550.3890 |
Morocco | 904 | 37772.7560 |
Indonesia | 812 | 279134.5050 |
India | 805 | 1406631.7760 |
Bolivia | 743 | 11992.6560 |
Zambia | 717 | 19470.2340 |
Philippines | 696 | 112508.9940 |
Honduras | 620 | 10221.2470 |
Zimbabwe | 609 | 15331.4280 |
North Korea | 602 | 25990.6790 |
Guatemala | 578 | 18584.0390 |
Nicaragua | 568 | 6779.1000 |
Sri Lanka | 531 | 21575.8420 |
Mozambique | 479 | 33089.4610 |
Pakistan | 448 | 229488.9940 |
Ghana | 351 | 32395.4500 |
Bangladesh | 320 | 167885.6890 |
Angola | 312 | 35027.3430 |
Ivory Coast | 275 | 27742.2980 |
Cameroon | 275 | 27911.5480 |
Cambodia | 271 | 17168.6390 |
Senegal | 229 | 17653.6710 |
Yemen | 220 | 31154.8670 |
Myanmar | 215 | 55227.1430 |
Republic of the Congo | 203 | 5797.8050 |
Kenya | 164 | 56215.2210 |
Togo | 155 | 8680.8370 |
Nepal | 146 | 30225.5820 |
Nigeria | 145 | 216746.9340 |
DR Congo | 109 | 95240.7920 |
Tanzania | 104 | 63298.5500 |
Benin | 100 | 12784.7260 |
Eritrea | 89 | 3662.2440 |
Ethiopia | 69 | 120812.6980 |
Niger | 51 | 26083.6600 |
South Sudan | 44 | 11618.5110 |
Haiti | 39 | 11680.2830 |
Sudan | 0 | 45992.0200 |