China generates more electricity than the US, the EU and India combined
electricity generation, 2025
10,506 TWh in 2025 against 9,398 TWh for the three together: the US 4,520 TWh, the EU 2,798 TWh, India 2,080 TWh. In 2000 China generated 5.2 times less than them; it overtook them in 2023.
More
How much electricity all of a country’s power plants produced in a year: coal, gas, nuclear, hydro, wind and solar. One terawatt-hour is roughly what 300,000 homes use in a year.
Blue is China, orange the US, the 27 EU countries and India together; one scale. The ring marks the overtaking.
- China: Electricity generation TWh per year
1,355.6 (2000) → 10,505.7 (2025)
- United States: Electricity generation TWh per year
3,802.1 (2000) → 4,519.8 (2025)
- India: Electricity generation TWh per year
571.4 (2000) → 2,080.2 (2025)
- Generation of the 27 EU countries TWh a year
2025: 2,798 TWh
Ember, yearly generation data; the sum for the years every country has. The EU is the current 27 countries for every year.
Coal still provides about 60% of China’s electricity, but it also generates more from wind and sun than anywhere else. Per person China generates less than the US.
A question for this picture
Where does so much electricity go: factories, air conditioning or electric cars?