Germany vs South Africa: Annual change in primary energy from renewables
Germany
1.6 terawatt-hours
in 2025
South Africa
2.17 terawatt-hours
in 2025
Germany rank
38th
South Africa rank
34th
Annual change in primary energy from renewables over time
- Germany
- South Africa
How they compare
South Africa currently reports 2.17 terawatt-hours against 1.6 terawatt-hours in Germany, a difference of 0.57 terawatt-hours.
That makes South Africa's figure about 1.4 times Germany's.
The two have swapped places 21 times across 60 shared years of data; in 1966 it was Germany ahead.
Germany ranks 38th and South Africa ranks 34th of 80 countries.
Across the 7 decades both report, Germany averaged higher in 5 and South Africa in 2.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | Germany | South Africa | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | -0.6247 terawatt-hours | -0.004 terawatt-hours | 0.6207 terawatt-hours | South Africa |
| 1970s | 0.9044 terawatt-hours | 0.1123 terawatt-hours | 0.7921 terawatt-hours | Germany |
| 1980s | 0.0813 terawatt-hours | 0.1615 terawatt-hours | 0.0802 terawatt-hours | South Africa |
| 1990s | 1.29 terawatt-hours | -0.1436 terawatt-hours | 1.43 terawatt-hours | Germany |
| 2000s | 15.67 terawatt-hours | 0.1847 terawatt-hours | 15.49 terawatt-hours | Germany |
| 2010s | 19.02 terawatt-hours | 1.04 terawatt-hours | 17.98 terawatt-hours | Germany |
| 2020s | 6.62 terawatt-hours | 3.34 terawatt-hours | 3.28 terawatt-hours | Germany |
Averages of every year both report within each decade.
Frequently asked questions
- Which has higher annual change in primary energy from renewables, Germany or South Africa?
- South Africa, at 2.17 terawatt-hours against 1.6 terawatt-hours in Germany as of 2025.
- What is the difference in annual change in primary energy from renewables between Germany and South Africa?
- 0.57 terawatt-hours, with South Africa ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for Germany and South Africa?
- 60 years are reported by both, from 1966 to 2025.
- How do Germany and South Africa rank globally for annual change in primary energy from renewables?
- Germany ranks 38th and South Africa ranks 34th of 80 countries.
- Where does this data come from?
- Energy Institute - Statistical Review of World Energy (2026); Smil (2017) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as Annual change in primary energy from renewables. Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.
Individual pages
About this data
Change in total energy supply relative to the previous year, measured in terawatt-hours.